


Home is Faraway

by SherlockHolmes_at221b_Lives



Series: Some Sunny Day [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Blood Magic, Blood and Gore, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Human Bill Cipher, Human!Bill, M/M, Most Definantly Sex at some point., Pirate AU, Rough Kissing, Rum, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-21 22:02:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6059656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockHolmes_at221b_Lives/pseuds/SherlockHolmes_at221b_Lives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is the spring of 1611,  and Bill Cipher has sworn revenge on the Pines family. That summer, twelve-year-old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines are sent to live in the seaport town of Gravity Falls with their Great Uncle Stan, never to go back home. </p><p>Now, in Summer of 1619, Dipper and Mabel are going on a great adventure- one willing, and one not. It's an adventure of finding family, history, and truth. </p><p>And the story of Bill Cipher and his soul begins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Well Color Me Yellow, Pine Tree

**Author's Note:**

> WEIRDMAGEDDON PART THREE SPOILERS
> 
> WEIRDMAGEDDON PART THREE SPOILERS 
> 
> WEIRDMAGEDDON PART THREE SPOILERS THROUGHOUT THE STORY
> 
> It's not as smutty as you think.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Mabel part ways for the first time in their life.

“THE FEARSOME MABEL STRIKES AGAIN!!!” My twin screeched as she held a sparring stance, her handmade cutlass inches from my nose. I gave her an feigned surprised look, no longer able to be caught off guard anymore by my sister’s theatrics. We were up in our attic room in the Mystery Shack: Oddities of the Legends. Our Great Uncle Stan had turned part of his house into an attraction, a place full of faux monsters and magical things. (He figured he could sell things that could be from old legends, and things to ‘protect you from evil’- it was all a load of crap.)

“Oh no.” I replied boredly, “Not the Fearsome Mabel. Whatever shall I do?”

“C’monnnnnn, Dipper!” Mabel whined, dropping the stance and sheathing her pride and joy of a sword. “We’re leaving in a couple of days! You’re shit with a sword, you need practice if we’re going to be exploring! Who knows what’ll happen? We could run into pirates! We might have to fight magical stuff! You won’t be able to defend yourself if you can’t use a sword right!”

I said nothing. In a few days, we were to board _The Weirdmageddon_ , an explorer ship and become part of the crew. I would become a navigator, and map any new lands we found. Mabel would be a seamstress, but she was going on every expedition, probably get in a lot of fights, and be best friends with the crew. I can still remember how we got roped into this mess of a will-be adventure, almost six years ago.

_It was our fourteenth birthday, and Grunkle Stan was taking out to the docks for something special. It was a windy day, as it almost always was, but the wind brought cold. Mabel had taken to wearing pants instead of skirts and dresses and had knitted herself a sweater to keep away the cold. When we were younger, we always loved running up and down the docks, talking to anyone that would stop for us and tell us stories of their travels- Mabel had made quite a few friends that way. In fact, she stopped every couple of minutes to say hi to an old sea friend, either just back from their travels or just leaving on a new one. I didn’t mind, but very soon Grunkle Stan became extremely annoyed._

_“Kid!” He eventually snapped, and Mabel turned her head from one of her best friends, Grenda, who had run into her as she walked down the port, carrying crates. Her wide, green eyes shone at our Great Uncle. “If you keep stopping to talk to all your friends, we won’t get there in time! You can chat about whatever stupid thing later.” Mabel nodded, very seriously, and followed Grunkle Stan. Birthdays were a very serious matter to her._

_Not surprisingly, Grenda followed. Apparently, the massive, muscular, deep-voiced teen that was almost scary to look at was going to the same destination as we were. I became anxious as we reached the end of the port; Mabel, excited._

_For at the end of the port there was an enormous South Coast Lugger,_ The Weirdmageddon _painted in large, bold red on the side. Men and women alike came on and off the ship, bringing supplies aboard and running errands. Grenda walked right aboard the ship, disappearing amongst the others. I looked at our Grunkle questioningly._

_“What are we here for?” I asked warily._

_“You’ll see.” was Stan’s smug reply. Mabel was bouncing on the balls of her feet, looking around ecstatically, flapping the blue sleeves of her to big sweater around wildly. We caught a man’s eye, someone in his mid-thirties, and he came rushing down the ramp that connected the ship to the dock, knocking into some of the crew on the way down, apologizing every time. He looked a little wild in the eyes and very happy._

_“Stan Pines!” the scholarly looking man greeted as he stopped in front of us. “It’s good to see you again! These are your niece and nephew, then? Mabel and Dipper?”_

_“Yes, McGucket.” Stan replied. “Kids, this is Captain Fiddleford McGucket, of_ The Weirdmageddon. _I made a deal with him- in six_ _years, if you want, you can be part of his crew, yadda yadda yadda. It’s an explorer ship. You’ll get to see the world, and all that.” I flinched as Mabel started to scream._

_“PART OF A SHIP!?!? LIKE, GOING OUT INTO THE OPEN SEA AND DOING STUFF THAT’S NOT WORKING IN THE SHACK?!” She screamed again, and on the ship, you could hear Grenda, and another one of Mabel’s best friends, Candy, scream back._

_“I take it she’s excited?” McGucket muttered to Stan._

_“Yeah. Just give it a minute.” he muttered back. Taking a closer look at McGucket, I noticed that he didn’t really look like someone who could captain a ship. He wore small, rimless glasses, a full suit, and what looked like several ink stains over his hands. His hair was a sun-lightened brown, and looked like he hadn’t combed or cut in weeks. He didn’t look like he tanned at all from being out in the open sea at all, and kept fairly clean. I didn’t trust him._

_“Aren’t you excited, bro bro?” Mabel asked, her green eyes shining brightly. I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t want to join a crew. I wanted to stay in Gravity Falls. “.... Dip n’ Dot?”_

_“Yeah, Mabel.” I lied. Lied right through my teeth. “How could I ever leave my favorite twin?”_

‘I’ll tell her eventually.’ _I thought to myself._ ‘Let her enjoy her birthday….’

That was nearly six years ago- we would be turning twenty soon- and I still had yet to tell her I couldn’t join her. I wanted to run the Mystery Shack. I secretly wanted to study magic, and the supernatural, and all the anomalies in this town. There were some things I had to figure out about this our home, and recently some things… Didn’t sit right with me about our Grunkle Stan. He was hiding something, I knew he was. He’d been acting odd for a couple of weeks, now, and for those weeks I’ve been trying to find out why.

Mabel pulled me out from my thoughts. “You haven’t even packed yet, Dippingsauce! What even?!”

“I’m not going with you, Mabes.” I couldn’t look her in the eye.

“Wh- what do you mean? What are you talking about, Dipper? Of course, you’re coming with me! You’ve been studying navigation and maps for two years! You’ve been practicing sword fighting, you’ve wanted to go on an adventure like this since we were kids, and- and- and you’ve made friends with the crew-” I cut her off there.

“No, Mabes, _you’ve_ made friends with the crew. _You’ve_ wanted to go on an adventure like this since we were kids. You’re a great swordswoman, and I have total faith that you’ll do just fine on _The Weirdmageddon’s_ voyages on your own. You don’t need me to have fun! And….. There’s some… studying of my own I want to do. I also want to learn to run this old place! My life is here, Mabes. Besides, you were always the ‘take life by the reigns’ twin.”

Mabel looked hurt and betrayed for a moment, and I couldn’t look her in the eye. Then, she spoke again. “Does this mean I’m the Alpha Twin?”

“Wh- what?!”

“Am I, Mabel Pines, the Alpha Twin? I mean, if I’m a sword fighter, and going on an explorer ship to find new stuff, and you’re just gonna back out and say ‘no’, then does that make me the Alpha Twin?!” I stood there, mouth agape, not believing that _that’s_ all she got from what I just told her.

“I- I mean…. I guess?” My twin whooped in joy as she started to chant, running downstairs to Stan.

“AL-PHA TWIN! AL-PHA TWIN! AL-PHA TWIN! AL-PHA TWIN!”

“What in the devil are you going on about, Mabel?” Stan demanded, putting down his mid-afternoon cup of coffee and folding his paper back up. Due to our departure in a few days, Stan was closing the shop temporarily, otherwise, we’d have been working the Shack.

“I. AM. THE. ALPHA TWIN!!” she screeched.

“The what? Alpha Twin?”

“YES! Dip- Dot said he was backing out of the exploration ship! He’s backing out of adventure to study and run an old dusty hovel! That makes me the ALPHA TWIN!”

“... Dipper’s not going on _The Weirdmageddon_? Dipper?” Stan looked at me, demanding answers.

“N- no. I wanted to keep studying… A- And I wanted to keep working in the Mystery Shack! I just wanted to stay home.” Stan said nothing for a long, painstaking minute.

“I’ll tell McGucket he’s going to need to find a navigator, then.” He grumbled, but looked at me with a kindness, and his tone turned to one of joking. “At least I’ll have one kid around to do all of my work for me.”

I sighed in relief. _‘That went… well. Thank whatever gods there are they didn’t ask what I’m going to study. Thank the gods Stan doesn’t know I’m onto him!’_ I thought.

“You’re still going to see me off, though, right, Dipdip?” Mabel asked, pouting. What a fearsome pirate, indeed….

“Yes, Mabel, of course! And you’ll write to us whenever you can, right?”

“Obviously! Now come on, help me finish packing! I can only bring supplies and necessities! That’s two trunks, and I need to stuff as much as I can in there!” I groan teasingly, but let her drag me upstairs to help her pack anyway.

 

We were walking down the port, Mabel with one trunk and I with the other. She was going as fast as she could to get to the ship at the end of the port, her long brown hair pulled back and her trunk hitting her knees. She had her sword sheathed and attached to her belt. She looked ready for the days in the sun, and anything that might come her way. Her shirt was too big, for some reason, which confused me a bit, but she had her belt around it, and the sleeves were rolled up past her elbows. _‘The look suits her,’_ I thought as I lugged her other trunk behind me, trying to keep up with her. _‘Though why she has me wearing this sweater in this weather, I don’t know!’_

It was one of the softest things I owned, sure, and it may have been near the end of August, but it was just too hot to be wearing this! I wore it, however, without complaint, because Mabel spent the last two days making it. It was, as she called it, her goodbye sweater. It was a pearly white, a sky blue pine tree shape in the center, with the cuffs and collar the same shade. I guess the softness was worth the heat.

As we got to the end of the port, there was someone there to meet us. She was tall, in her early twenties, with forest green eyes and red hair that went down past her shoulders. _‘She’s stunning…’_ I thought as I put the trunk down. Even with the frown she wore slightly marring her features, she was one of the most eye- catching girls I’ve ever met. Mabel seemed to have known her, smiling brightly at the other girl.

“Wendy!” she called out. “Good to see you again!”

“Good to see you, too, Mabel, but I’m afraid I have some bad news..” Wendy replied, looking stricken.

“We’ve got some news, too. Dipper isn’t coming on the voyage, so you’ll have to find a new navigator. Sorry.” Mabel said, looking down.

“It’s alright,” Wendy sighed. “The _Weirdmageddon_ isn’t setting sail.” Mabel was about to protest, but for some reason, Grunkle Stan beat her to it.

“What do you mean? McGucket and I had a deal! Where is he?” Stan demanded. Deal? What deal? Grunkle Stan was always taking risks, but making deals?

“That’s the thing…” Wendy sighed again. “We’re not sure. He kind of went off the deep end the last two years, and then when our ship was attacked, he… He disappeared. Not sure if they took him or if he ran, but he’s gone. Most likely dead. There’s no one to run the ship, none of us really have the heart. He was a cool man, even if he was a nerd.”

“Attacked? By who? Do you know? Do you know what they wanted?” Stan’s brows furrowed, and you could see the wheels churning in his head. I shrunk back behind him, listening but not wanting to be seen. Wendy hesitated before answering.

“Cipher.” She muttered. “Cipher and his men. We don’t know what they wanted exactly, but they were looking for something, something that either caused McGucket to abandon ship or be kidnapped. They came in screaming and demanding things, searched the place in a whirlwind, and were gone. Took them five minutes at most, but in the five minutes, McGucket disappeared.” At that moment, a fury like no other flew through Stan, and the next words out of his mouth, no one expected to hear.

“I’ll captain the ship if you’d let me.” He said, squaring his shoulders, fixing the stupid fez on his head. Wendy looked taken aback.

“What? You?”

“Yes, me. Who do you think taught Dipper to navigate, plot courses, read the stars? Taught Mabel everything she knows on sword fighting and shooting a pistol? I was a captain once, Wendy- A lifetime ago, but I still know my stuff. If it’s Bill Cipher you’re after, I’m your man.”

Mabel smiled wide, and before anyone could say anything, she took her trunk and sprinted aboard the ship.

“What about the shop, Stan?” Wendy asked. “What are you going to do about it?” Stan looked to me.

“Kid?”

“Yeah?” I asked warily. Wendy seemed to notice me only just then. I had never really listened to Mabel a hundred percent when she would ramble about the people she met on the docks, but now I wish I had, so I could know just a bit more about this Wendy. Wendy looked at me like she wished the same.

“Kid, tomorrow, you’re running the Shack. Hire help if you need to, but this is something I’ve got to do. I’m sorry about this.”

“Bu- but- but Grunkle Stan, I don’t know how to run the Shack on my own! Why do you need to leave? Who is Bill Cipher? Why is this so important that you’re just going to leave?” Stan sighed, not answering my questions. He gave Wendy Mabel’s other trunk.

“Take this up. Tell your crew to be ready to set sail in a couple of hours, I’ve got some packing to do. Make sure we have enough supplies for a couple of months. This isn’t going to be an explorer ship anymore… This is a hunt, understand?” Wendy nodded curtly.

“Sir, yes, Sir!” She made her way back up the lugger, and I stood there in astonishment. Everything had happened far too quickly for me to understand it fully, and the next thing I know, I’m back home in the Shack, my Great Uncle Stan packing his things.

“Now kid, I know you’re an awkward mess of a person.” Grunkle Stan said. He didn’t say anything else for a bit.

‘...... But?”

“‘But’ nothing. Good luck.” He hesitated for a moment, stopping what he was doing before looking me in the eye. “Dipper, there’s a lot I’ve kept from you and Mabel. For your own sakes, because I promised your parents I would keep you two safe, and bringing you into it would be breaking that. And I can’t explain this all to you, because there’s not enough time, and because there are somethings _I just_ _don’t understand_ about it. And I know you’re thinking, ‘If where you’re going isn’t safe, why are you taking Mabel?’ Because there are some things she’ll be useful for, and I want her to be able to defend herself. She’ll learn how on the ship, the crew and eventual experience will teach her. And as for you I know, even if you’re not the strongest or the fastest, you’re damn smart, and I know you can take care of yourself. You’re clever, and you’re braver than you think you are. One day, Dipper, the world is gonna fight, but when it does, I know you’ll be able to fight back.

“But today is not that day, and I need you to run the Shack for me, okay? Keep this old place going. This is something I have to do, and this is the best opportunity I’ve ever had to do it, but this house…. I can’t let this place go to rot, okay? Study whatever you want, but please, keep this place going. Keep it strange, ya hear?”

I was shaking. How could I not be? I was going to lose all of my family in one day! The last two people I have left, and they’re going out to sea, gods know when they’ll be back. And ‘the world is going to fight me?’ Was something going to happen to me? And he’s just going to leave me here to fight it off myself? _‘You could always join them,’_ the rational part of me thought. But now Stan expects me to keep the Shack running?? This was going too fast. All of this was moving faster than should be possible, and if it went any faster I was going to get whiplash. I couldn’t think. What the hell was going on?!

“Y-yeah, Stan. I’ll watch the Mystery Shack.” he smiled, having finished packing what he could.

“Braver already, kid. You’ll be fine. Now, are we going to sit here, or are you going to walk me back to the ship? Because knowing your sister, she’ll be wanting to see you one last time. This is your first time being apart, and by the time we get back she’ll have just realized that. Prepare for tears.” I sighed.

“Shit.”

“Shit’s right. Let’s get this show on the road.”

 

The walk back to the ship was a short one. Again, I had one trunk, and Stan had the other. We walked in silence, having nothing more to say to each other. The wind was hot, and I almost regret keeping the sweater on but knew if I took it off to see Mabel one last time before she left, I would regret it more.

As we reached the ship, Mabel came into view, standing tall but teary eyed. Stan took his other trunk from me, going onto the ship so Mabel and I could say our final goodbyes in peace. Mabel refused to cry.

“Are you sure you can’t come with us?” My twin begged, her big green eyes staring back into my own, going right into my soul.

“Do- Don’t give me that look, Mabes… Grunkle Stan asked me to watch the Shack. Besides, I’m not going anywhere if I stay. You’ll have something to look forward to when you come home, yeah?” Mabel pulled me into a tight embrace, forcing all of the air out of me. I hugged back just as fiercely.

“I’ll write to you whenever I can! I’ll make sure Grunkle Stan does, too! And I’ll bring a lot of stuff back for you, and I’ll tell you every story, and I’ll write down all the weird stuff for you, and- and-” She started to sniff, pulling away from the hug, wiping away her tears as they came down her face. “I don’t want to leave you all alone, bro bro!”

“It’s alright, Mabes. I’ll be okay. Who knows, maybe when you come back I’ll have found someone.” I tried to reassured her, joking a bit, but was hardly able to even convince myself with that lie. She laughed dryly.

“Dipper, you couldn’t even court a sea urchin if you tried.” She mocked gently.

“Thank you for your faith.” I replied sarcastically. “Thank you so much. Great to know someone believes in me.” She laughed.

“You know it’s true, Dip Dot! You’re so awkward and… sweaty. You haven’t made any friends in a really long time. You once cried trying to talk to a lady.”

“I was ten! And it’s hot in this thing, okay?!” Mabel laughed again, and Grenda and Candy called for her to get back- it was time for her to go. She frowned, then pulled a small box from her pocket.

“I know we won’t be able to spend our nineteenth together, so I’m giving it to you know, okay? Something to remember me by whenever you miss me!” I took the small box gently. It was a brown box, so small that it fit in the palm of my hand, but heavy, too. “Try not to wonder to hard as to how I got it.”

“Thanks, Mabel. And I put your gift in your trunk. Awkward Sibling Hug?” I held out my arms, small smirk on my face and tears in my eyes.

“Awkward Sibling Hug.” She wrapped me in a tight embrace for a moment, and then-

“Pat, pat.” complete monotone, in unison. Years of practice does that. She let go, grinned one last time, and ran aboard. I stood there, tears in my eyes, rolling down my face, and waved to her and Grunkle Stan the whole way. I waved until they couldn’t see me anymore, until they were a pinprick. I left the docks when it was finally dark.

* * *

Grunkle Stan had left me with the keys before he went away. I locked everything up, deciding for the next few days that the Mystery Shack: Oddities of the Legends would be closed as I tried to pull myself together. I’ve never handled being alone well, and now that I was truly alone, for god knows how long? I was ready to go into shambles.

I didn’t eat. I didn’t bother to change out of my clothes. I put my gift into my pocket, went up to my room, laid down in my bed and stared at the empty, barren one across from mine in the dark. I hadn’t even bothered to take off my shoes as I curled up in my bed. Be strong? Mabel made me strong. She pushed me to my limits and made me better. I was ready to deal with her being gone. But Grunkle Stan? Him, too?

He told me he wasn’t being completely truthful with us. He told me he was practically roping Mabel into a mess of danger, more than she was trained for. He knew something was going to happen. I know it….

My angry, confused thoughts eventually faded as I worked myself up, stress and loneliness knocking me out into a dream hallucination filled half-sleep. A dream so vivid….

_I was laying in my bed when the red, stained glass triangle window was busted into a thousand pieces. Strange people climbed in from a rope- from the roof?- bringing a single lantern with them. I never knew why that window was a triangle, or why it looked like it had an eye in the center, but I liked it, and it upset me that they broke it. I didn’t understand why they were in my room. They had a lantern, and from what I could see, there were three of them. Three pirates, in my bedroom. I stirred a bit, protesting at the invasion and broken glass as one of them, an attractive woman with flaming pink hair, pressed a strange smelling cloth to my face._

_“shh…” she cooed in her raspy as I struggled against her. “Think one’ll be enough? He’s the only one in the house.” She asked her mates._

_“I don’t know, Pyronica.” said another. A strangely ordinary sounding male. “You know Captain Cipher said he wanted them all.” That was the last I heard as I felt the pink hair Pyra- whatever pick me up. Then the black took over, and nothingness ensued._

I woke with a strange feeling in my mouth, in a bed that had yet to realize was not mine, was not mine, to a slight swaying. “What a strange dream,” I murmured to myself, not wanting to open my eyes. The bed was comfortable, the pillows soft, the swaying begging me to go back to sleep. My eyes snapped open, though, when I heard an ungodly laughter from beside me on the bed.

  
“Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well!” The all- too cheery voice yelled, right into my ear. It laughed again as I bolted up, rubbing my eyes. I wasn’t in my room anymore, and salty air hit my nose like a punch to the stomach. “Well, color me yellow, Pine Tree! You’re finally up!”


	2. The Mindscape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill in introduced, Will comes into view with power.

“Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well! Color me yellow, Pine Tree! You’re up!”

I looked around wildly. I was in a cabin of some sort, in the largest bed I’ve ever seen. There was a tall, handsome, dark-skinned man with sun-bleached honey blond hair lying next to me. I scrambled out of the bed, looking out the nearest window- nothing but the open sea.

“I’m dreaming…” I said to myself in a panic. “I’m dreaming and this is just part of the other dream where a very attractive pink haired lady broke my window.” The man, looking to be in his mid-twenties, was curled up in laughter. His teeth were extremely white, and he had a golden eye patch over his right eye, shaped like an isosceles triangle. He was wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up past the elbow, a bow tie and a golden yellow waistcoat with a brick design, neat black triangle buttons down the center. He had a vest over it; black outlined in gold, and black gloves. I was starting to notice a pattern here. And the fact that even though it was immensely hot here, he still preferred to be well-dressed.

The laughing stopped after a bit. He stood up and walked over to me, a big mischievous smirk playing on this lips. His champagne eye almost seemed to glow, golden with flecks of bubbly orange.

“Now, now, Pine Tree. Am I really that attractive that you must stare?” His voice was downright _demonic._ It hit my soul and was utterly terrifying. He clapped his gloved hand on my shoulder, shaking me a bit. From his wrists to maybe even above his elbows, there were golden brick tattoos. This man had a thing for gold bricks- and very muscular arms. “Do you know where you are, Sapling?”

“N- n- no.” I managed to stutter. He laughed again.

“Oh, then this should be fun _!_ ” He started to leave the small cabin, grabbing a cane and top hat from the hooks next to the door with one hand, the other holding onto my shoulder with an iron grip. He steered me out onto the main deck, under the oppressive noon sun, where the rest of the crew was working away. From somewhere above me, music was playing, which was nearly impossible. I could distinctly hear two violins, a deep-pitched violin, and a higher pitched violin as though they were right next to me, but looking around I knew there was nothing that could have been doing that.

The music stopped abruptly, though, and the crew stopped when the lack of music hit their ears. Everyone looked up to the main mast, to the crow’s nest, and my captor and I did the same. There, a man in blue stood, violin in one hand and bow in the other. A tricorn was pulled down to cover most of his face, even from down here. His dress, from what I could see, was strikingly similar to the man’s next to me, save for the fact it was an admiral blue where my captors were gold and the hats.

“Come down from there, Will!” my captor called up to him. “There’s someone you should meet!” To my horror, Will got up onto the railing of the crow’s nest and preceded to jump.

“ _HOLY SHIT!_ ” I screeched, my eyes going wide as the Man With the Iron Grip laughed in his spine-chilling demonic way. I felt the confusion build up when he landed with a soft thump _,_ and even more confusion when he spoke.

“Didn’t Mother teach you not to take other people, Bill?” The voice was shaky and feminine _._ Will was a _girl._ My suspicion was confirmed when the hat was pushed up. Bill and Will still looked strikingly similar, of course, but her eyes were wider and her face a bit rounder, her cheekbones not as prominent. Her lips were fuller, too. Their hair was the same style and color: longer in the front, where the bangs could reach mid face, shorter in the back, but not short enough where you couldn't give your fingers a good run through it. Seeing the shocked look on my face, she turned a weak, almost sad, mocking glare to Bill, violin, and bow disappearing. “William Cipher, have you been telling people I’m a man again?” She turned back to me, inspecting me carefully.

I stared at Bill. “William Cipher? As in the full of Bill? The same Bill Cipher that attacked the _Weirdmageddon_?” I asked incredulously.

“Wow, kid, is that the only thing you know me by? Your Great Uncle Stan sure did keep you in the dark!” Bill laughed, ruffling my hair. The entire crew was watching us at this point.

“What do you know about Grunkle Stan? What isn’t he telling us? What aren’t you telling _me_ ? And why the _hell_ am I here?!” I demanded. Bill’s eye became dark, his grip on my shoulder getting increasingly painful.

“Kid,” He started, his voice low and dangerous, “You will _not_ speak to me that way. Ever. Again. Do you understand?” I paled and nodded, and he surprisingly released me from his death grip, shoving me forward into Will. “I may be captain of this ship, but Willow decides what to do with all of the captured. And what are the rest of you staring at? Get back to work!” He growled out his words, stomped back to his quarters, and slammed his door so hard you could hear it from out here. People had yet to move.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Someone to kiss your cheek? You heard the Cap’n! Now get to it or I ain’t singing you no shanty!” Willow yelled at them, in a mock stern voice, but apparently the threat of having to work without their music was enough to make to make them scurry. She put a gentle hand on my shoulder, grinning softly. “Now as for you. What’s your name, Pine Tree?”

“Dipper Pines, Ms. Cipher.” I replied in the most respectful tone I could. She giggled at the formality.

“No need to call me that, Dipper Pines. Will is fine, it’s what everyone calls me here.” She started to lead me to the other end of the ship for privacy. She took both of my hands again, staring at them intently for a moment. “You’re not much of a sword fighter, are you? More of a pistol type?”

“Yes, Mi- Will. I’ve been told to have impeccable aim. I’m good with a dagger, as well, and can navigate and plot courses… Do you mind if I asked you a question?” she nodded. “Are- are you and Bill siblings?” She laughed lightly, cheerful at my silly question.

“Twins, Pine Tree. And call him Captain Cipher, your chances of him liking you will go up.”

“Why should I care if he likes me?”

“If he likes you, you have a higher chance of staying alive.” Her matter-of-fact tone lead me to believe she’s had to say this to many others before me. “ He’s not above killing you, you know. In fact, he wants to. Really, really badly, too, but I have other plans.” I started to sweat- from heat and nervousness, but mostly from the heat.

“W- what does that mean?” Will tugged my arm, leading me across the ship. “Where are you taking me?”

“Bill’s study!”

“Why??” there was panic rising in my voice now.

“I’ve made my decision!” She cheered, walking up to a door that had “Captain’s Study” carved into it. She knocked twice and walked in. Bill was standing over his wide desk, peering over a map with great boredom.

“What do you want?” he drawled, all anger seeming to have left him.

“I’ve made up my mind~” Will sang, pushing me in front of her. He looked up with a great interest, a horrible shimmer in his eye.

“And that would be?” You could hear to hope for murder in his voice. He really did want me dead.

“The Pines boy lives!” The hope plummeted for the male twin, and I sighed, relieved.

“What do you mean, ‘The Pines boy lives’?!” Bill demanded. Will’s eyes went hard, and there was a fierceness that came so naturally to her, but you would have never expected it.

“I said he lives. I like the boy; besides, he’s good with a gun and can navigate us through any waters. He’ll be useful, and I want him on the crew.”

“That’s not your decision to make, Willow,” Bill growled, upset at her choice. “I don’t need a new navigator- I’m fine doing it on my own.”

“Yeah, sure.” Will scoffed. “That’s why you’re ready to pull out your own hair half the time because it’ keeping you up half the night. All this planning and scheming is taking more of a toll on you than you thought. Having the Pines boy around will help. Trust me- I can see it.”

“Don’t you remember what the Pines family _did_ to you?” He hissed, and I could feel the conversation was going in a direction that was beyond me. “What they did to _us_? We swore revenge, and now that we have one, you won’t take the chance? What has gotten into you?!”

“Don’t yell at me!” She yelled, getting into into his face. “I know what they did to us, but he had yet to be born when it happened! He had nothing to do with it! Besides,” Her voice became low, almost so I could not hear her, “We can use him as bait, no? Real in the others, then kill them all?”

They looked at each other meaningfully for a few moments, communicating to each other through vague hand movements, facial expressions, grunts, and hums. Just as two well tuned siblings would- just as Mabel and I had. I could almost see the gears churn in his head, before he seemed to remember I was there. Bill turned and gave me the biggest smile he could muster, one that looked less demonic and more genuine.

“Welcome aboard the _Mindscape,_ kid! Let’s get you introduced to your new crewmates!” he chirped, clapping me on the back.

“What?!” I yelled. I’d rather be a prisoner than join the crew. “Don’t I get a choice in this??”

“Sure!” Bill chirped as his smile widened, taking a pistol from his desk and holding it to my temple. “If you’d prefer to die, I’d be happy to accommodate!” The color left my face as I shook my head. He grabbed a belt and holster from the same drawer as the pistol, sliding it on and tucking the gun away. “That’s what I thought!”

Will grinned smugly and left the study, Bill leading me with surprising gentleness through the ship. He introduced me to the crew- about twelve men, women, and persons of non identifiable gender total, not including the ten ‘swabbies’ that did the grunt work, and three very skilled chefs. A few of them stuck out to me: Amorphous, Pyronica and Tad. The three had been the ones to break into my home.

Amorphous was a mishmash of a man- discolored patches of skin, more scar than anything. His eyes were a swirl that seemed to change color constantly, but if you stared too long (as I had made the mistake of doing) he would lash out on you with his enormous hand, nails sharpened to claws. Bill had moved me side in the nick of time, laughing away. Amorphous was the Bosun, Bill told me later, and seemed very proud of his work.

Pyronica, the Master Gunner, was a well built woman- strong arms and legs, broad shoulders, wide hips. She had flaming pink hair, by the likes I’ve never seen before. She, unlike Bill or Will, spoke like a pirate, too. That is to say, very improperly; whereas the Cipher twins usually spoke as if they were on a ship in the Royal Navy to meet the Queen, the rest of the crew spoke rudely, harshly, and with a quick wit. However, Pyronica seemed to be the best of the worst. She was sarcastic and liked a good laugh. For instance: holding me overboard by my ankles in front of most of the ‘swabbies’, who, having not much respect for me in the first place, lost the rest of it as soon as I screamed. Strangely, Bill had made sure I was alright after Pryronica put me back on my feet. It was though it was forced, not completely sincere. It made me wonder what he and his sister had really been silently arguing about back in the study.

Tad Strange was…. well, really normal looking, despite his name. As the First Mate, he seemed to have a little say in Captain Cipher’s decisions, and was voiced his concerns freely.

“Are you sure about keeping this one, Captain?” Tad asked tentatively, not wanting to upset his captain. “He looks weak… and stupid, if he’s wearing that sweater in this heat. Can he even use a sword?”

“Will said to keep him aboard,” the male twin replied in a low voice, keeping close to Tad and crossing his arms. “Because _apparently_ he’s a stellar navigator, and a god with a pistol. That, and I quote, ‘If you kill him now, you’ll regret it later; just wait and see.’”

“Regret what? Did she show you a vision?” Tad asked. Visions? What were they talking about?? They had a thirty second conversation and stared at each other for two minutes. They didn’t say anything of the sort!

“Nothing that would harm the crew, or the _Mindscape._ Just my pride....” The Captain looked down, as if ashamed by something. Tad, being a smart man, decided to drop it.

“Good with a gun, you said?” Bill looked up again and turned to me, finding his composure .

“Apparently so. Shall we test that?” Tad smirked at Cipher, who pulled his turnover pistol from his belt. I flinched a bit, and this made him laugh. He flipped it in his hand so it was facing me handle first, offering it to me. I eyed it, not sure if he was serious or not.

Deciding he was, I took it gently, and looked back to the Captain. He smiled, taking a peso from his pocket and tossing it in a high ark. I could hear Will start to sing, the music starting again as I raised the gun and fired just before the coin reached its peak, the bullet tearing through the Spanish coin as it reached the pinnacle of its ascent. The coin came down, and I handed the gun back to Captain Cipher, who took it gladly, a bit of surprise in his eye. Tad found the fallen coin and picked it up, holding it up in astonishment- there was a hole, dead center of the peso. Bill’s eye widened, taking it from Tad. He looked from me to the peso, unbelieving.

“My sister wasn’t kidding….” Bill mumbled. “Kid’s a damn good shot.” He pocketed the broken coin, looking to Tad. “Strange, I want you to find someone willing to teach Pine Tree to fight with a sword. He may be a great shot, but it takes too long to reload and if it gets wet, it’s useless. When will we reach the next port?”

“Tonight, Captain. Port Royal. We need to stock up on some things, and most of the crew could use a shore day.” Tad pinched the bridge of his nose. “The swabbies started to complain about the lack of rum again. AND we’re running out of bread.”

Captain Cipher giggled. Apparently the lack of bread was funny to him. “Good. You can let the men out tonight, when we port. Tomorrow we get better clothes for Pine Tree, or he’ll die in heat. Please inform my twin that she will be joining us.”

“A-aye, Captain.” Tad scurried along, following the source of the music. Captain Cipher laughed again- he seemed to find humorous pleasure in a lot of things.

“Oh, Pine Tree! They’re so smitten with each other, but they don’t know about the other’s affections! It’s adorable! Don’t you think so?”

“I mean… I guess?” I offered, rolling up the sleeves of my sweater. Bill noticed this, and motioned for me to follow him, heading towards the kitchens.

“I may be a lot of things, Pine Tree, but an uncaring Captain, I am not. You need food and rest. In two days time, you’ll be training, and helping me with navigations. Will said… She said she saw a certain potential in you, too. She’s never wrong about people, so I’ll be teaching you some things as well. _If_ I think you have the potential for it.”

“Teaching me what, B- Captain Cipher?” He smiled at the correction.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know, aren’t there, Pine Tree?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> decided to update every sunday. sorry its so late. learning ukulele


	3. Port Royal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill can REALLY pass off as a girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is so late I feel so ashamed

The next morning, I woke in a quiet room, covered in sweat. It was immensely hot, and I was beyond glad that I decided to finally take off the suffocating sweater. I was put in a hammock, and the slight swaying of the open sea demanded once again that I go back to sleep, but I knew I could not. Most of the crew had gone out last night, leaving me to the shared cabin, alone.

Rubbing my eyes, I got up, stretching out and cracking my back. Most of the crew wasn’t actually that bad, once they got used to me- and got used to me, they did. Within the day I had been there, they had accepted me as part of the ship, and by the time we reached the port that night, they were inviting me to the pubs for a drink with them. One of them - I think his name was 8-Ball - invited me to some more…. Unsavory places. I had to decline, though. I knew Bill had yet to trust me, and I him. He wouldn’t trust me to be back in time and told me to stay aboard the ship; I didn’t trust him not to kill me if I disobeyed his orders.

I found the sweater I had thrown off the night before to keep cool, putting on again so as to not walk around shirtless. I left the quarters and headed to the galley, hoping there was someone left for food. On my way down, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I bumped into one of the Cipher twins. Which one, I wasn’t sure, but they took my arm and started walking me in the opposite direction. Taking a closer look at their pajamas, I concluded that it was Bill taking me heaven knows where. Bill had a golden brick pattern on black silk pajamas- which, _of course,_ he would have- and his hair a mess. He shuffled instead of actually walking, humming a low tone. I was mildly surprised; he didn’t seem like the kind of man to go around unkempt, even if there was no one really there. Then again, I could be wrong, and it was Will taking me somewhere.

“Food is the other way, Pine Tree.” Yep, it was Bill. Will preferred ‘Pines Boy’ or ‘Little Dipper’. When I looked the sleepy captain in the eye, I gasped. I pulled my arm from his grip and scurried back, mortified.

In place of his right eye, covered mostly by his hair, there was a swirl of blue fire.

“Pine Tree?” Bill asked, confused, and, dare I say, a little concerned.

“D-d- _demon!_ ” I shouted, backing away further. Bill’s face dropped and he felt over his right eye, going pale. I turned and started to sprint, but crashed face first into Will. She held me steady, grabbing my forearms in an iron grip, and turned to her brother. In a second, she realized what was going on, holding me tighter. I tried to escape, but damn, this woman was strong. So I bit her. Hard.

“AUGHH, GODDAMMIT!” She yelled, releasing me and cradling her bleeding arm. Her face contorted in pain, then anger. A second later, I had a 220 pound, furious, muscular beast chasing me, and I prayed to all the gods for forgiveness, knowing I didn’t stand a chance.

I dashed onto the deck, passing the few swabbies that had started their work, and before I could think twice about it, jumped overboard. It wasn’t the shortest of drops, but Mabel and I had practiced for situations such as these, and I was a fairly good swimmer.

Diving head first into the water, I realized three things: one, someone dived in with me; two, I had no idea how far from shore I was, but we hadn’t gone completely to port; three, something had grabbed my leg. I panicked, and in my attempt to resurface, I saw who had grabbed me.

Bill looked murderous, to say the least. He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me up, and the more I fought him, the tighter his grip became, to the point where it was painful. The fire in his eye didn’t go out, either- no, it seemed to burn brighter with his anger. When we reached the surface, he was growling.

“Don’t you _ever_ _\- Fuck!_ ” I cut off his threat as I punched him in the good eye, hoping that he would let me go. However, he was not like his sister, and punched me back instead, right in the gut, as hard as he could. All the air left me and my eyes widened in pain. Someone tossed down a rope ladder, and Bill started towards it, clutching me so harshly that I knew there would be bruising. He dunked me occasionally and carried me up the rope ladder, not sure how he did so single-handedly. I couldn’t really struggle anymore, and when he threw me back on deck, I didn’t complain. I merely waited for my verdict.

 _‘A demon,’_ I thought, closing my eyes and putting my head between my knees. _‘Or… Something not human. What have I gotten myself into?!?!’_

 _‘Demon’s right, kid.’_ Bill’s voice answered back, and my head snapped up. He was inches from my face, seething, his champagne eye so filled with anger and hate and _something_ that I could feel my kidneys melting inside of me. _‘I’m a dream demon, Dipper Pines, a demon of the mind. And you. Are. Mine. If you EVER TRY THAT AGAIN, I will gladly rip out your eyes and make you eat them. Yes, I’m talking to you telepathically, and no, you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into. I take care of what’s mine, Pine Tree, and I keep an eye on them. You trying to run away is UNACCEPTABLE. And now that you know, you might as well know that the rest of the crew are demons, too. You speak a word of any of this to anyone and I’ll start taking fingers. Savvy?!’_ I nodded, terrified, and he dragged me up. Will was watching, pale and shaking. Bill’s anger left him, and he looked resigned. His mood swings went in every direction at any given moment, and that scared me.

Bill turned to me, strangely chipper. “Pine Tree, I have some clothes that might fit you! You’ll need to get changed out of those wet rags if we’re going to get you new clothes out in the port!” I was too shaken up to say anything as he dragged me out to his personal quarters. Once inside, he locked the door, opened a small door that led to a bathroom, and tossed me a towel, then a white long sleeve far too big for me, brown trousers, a belt, and a gold handkerchief. Then, he whisked away to a closet, pushing everything aside, opening a door that pushed out in the back, and walked in, closing the door behind him. _‘A secret room? That he just let me see?’_ I thought.

 _‘Yes, Pine Tree!’_ Bill responded, and I flinched. He didn’t say anything after that. I walked to the private bathroom, undressing and drying off. Looking in the small mirror he had there, I could see the bruises forming. I changed quickly.

I had to roll up the sleeves of the white shirt a couple of times, and the bottoms of the pants. My shoes were soaked, but there was nothing I could do about it. The price to be paid, I guess. The belt felt old, but it held my pants up well enough. figuring that he wanted me to hold back my hair with the gold handkerchief, I did so, frowning as my constellation birthmark showed itself. Unsure what to do with my soaked clothes, I hung them on a small towel rack to dry and left the bathroom. When I did, I was beyond words.

There stood Bill, completely dry, smiling brightly with his eyepatch in place. He wore white gloves that went up to his elbows, a cutlass sheath and belt around his waist, and an azure blue empire ball gown. My jaw dropped- at both the fact that he had such clothes, and that the dress fits rather well, surprisingly.

Bill did a small twirl, the skirt whooshing around his feet, the tule puffing slightly. “How do I look, Pine Tree?” He laughed demonically, hands on his hips. He saw my wet shoes and tutted. There was a snap of the fingers, and my shoes were dry. I also no longer smelled like salt water. “Can’t have my Pine Tree getting sick!” I nodded once, and he took me by the hand, grabbing a pouch on the way out. Should I bring up the dress? Should I ignore it? Laugh? Worry? I wasn’t sure, so I gapped wildly instead.

Back on the deck, most of the crew seemed to be returning. Will was slowly regaining her composure, and Tad was keeping a careful eye on everything. Once he saw Bill, though, his eyes widened, and he marched over, most of the crew noticing and staring openly.

“What,” Tad started, voice raised like an angry mother, “In the _world_ are you wearing, William Cipher?” Bill giggles, grabbing the skirt of the dress and turning from side to side, like an excited little girl in her first dress, feeling like a princess. Will started to laugh hysterically, and I swear the tips of Tad’s ears turned red.

“Isn’t it beautiful, Tad? It _waaaaas_ for Willow, but she refuses to wear anything I get for her! Did you expect me to just let these dresses go to waste?” Tad sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You can’t leave the ship like that, Bill,” he said, sounding like an exhausted mother.

“But- Taaaddd….!” Bill whined, shoulders slumping, the twirling stopped.

“No, Bill. Put some proper clothes on. You can _not_ leave the ship like this.”

“I can, and I will! Come on, Pine Tree!” Bill grabbed my arm once more, linking it with his. Will came over as well, taking her brother’s other hand. “Ready for this, Pine Tree?”

“Ready for what?” I asked warily, trying not to pull away from him.

“This!” He exclaimed, and suddenly, we were no longer on the ship. My chest tightened, my knees bucked under me, and I fell face first into the dirt. Bill was laughing, and, upon shakily bringing myself up, I saw the ship was a good ways away from the port- and we _were_ at port. Bill grabbed me once more, and the three of us were on our way.

In five minutes, Will had found a tailor that could have six outfits done for me by the end of the day, which was surprising, seeing as that most of the port seemed to be just waking up. From what I could tell, most of Port Royal was bars, brothels, diners, small stalls, and merchants, so it was a miracle that we found this place. How Will found it so quickly, I’ll never know.

A half hour after arriving at _Son of a Stitch,_ having my measurements were taken and discussing what would look best (mostly Bill speaking to the tailor, unsurprisingly) we were being pushed out again as Antoine, the master tailor in the shop, demanded he needed to ‘work without the distraction, considering the hour.’ I, of course, would not see the clothes until later. Will picked out the outfits, and, as Bill said, “If you saw them, Pine Tree, you’d be panicking until sundown.” Which did not help whatsoever.

Will took the time we had left before we had to pick up the new clothes, and decided that she was going to go to every stall she could. She had a pouch of coins and a determination in her eyes- she was looking for something, and she would find it.

“Pay no mind to her antics,” Bill said, watching his sister carefully from a few feet behind. “She loves to do things on her own and surprise people. Will won’t tell you what she’s working on until she’s done. She’s weird like that.”

“Bi- Captain Cipher?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“How has nobody noticed that you are a man… In a dress?”

“.... You humans are stupid and oblivious, Pine Tree.” A smile tugged at my lips.

“Or ma-”

“Don’t you fucking say it, kid.”

“Well, Captain Cipher-”

“Don’t you say it!”

“You do have a woman’s hips, Bill.” Our good Captain lost it.

“Well, you KNOW WHAT?! I LOOK DAMN GOOD WITH THESE HIPS, PINE TREE, AND YOU KNOW YOU’D FUCK ME IF I WERE MY SISTER.” His voice was high and his ears went bright red.

“Excuse me?”

“NOTHING.” His cheeks were pink, and quite a few people were staring. One man came over, drunkish still from the night before, and turned to Bill.

“Is this guy bothering you, little lady?” He slurred, and I broke out in laughter. Apparently, when embarrassed, Bill Cipher, Demon of the Seas, could pass as a more feminine girl than his twin. Then, of course, Bill punched the man in his eye.

“Fuck off,” Bill growled, stomping away with his nose in the air and _prancing-_ yes, _prancing-_ towards the direction of his sister. Clutching my sides, tears running down my face as I struggled to breathe from laughing, I followed Bill a best I could. He took my hand and dragged me along despite this, following Will as she went from stall to stall.

She stopped every now and then, buying hexagonal crystals, bargaining for dried and fresh basil leaves, grinning at pouches of theanine tea before purchasing them. She seemed to be enjoying herself, off in her own little world. I saw Bill smile a bit from the corner of my eye and felt his grip on my hand tighten.

 _‘Bill’s an odd one…’_ I thought to myself, hoping he didn’t hear me as I watched Will. _‘Will is, too… What was their mother thinking? Bill and Will?..... Do they even have a mother if they’re demons??’_ Deciding that some questions will never be answered, I dropped it, but not before feeling a small prodding at the back of my head. Instinctively, I raised my hand to that area and ran my fingers through my hair to find the source of it, but there was none. I let that slide, too. _‘If I’m going to keep my sanity,’_ I thought, _‘I will not question anything… If I want to keep my life, I will go with all of this…’_

I could feel the Captain freeze at my side, his grip on my hand so tight that I thought he was trying to break my fingers. When I tried to pull away, he didn’t budge. His eye was blank, fixed on one point, and that was Will, who was staring back at him with the same cold, dead look.

“Captain Cipher?” I waved my free hand in front of his eye. “Captain Cipher? Cipher?? Can you hear me?” I paused, growing worried beyond my better judgment, “William?”

Bill blinked slowly, turning a sharp head to me. “What did you call me, kid?”

“N-nothing, Captain Cipher. You drifted out a little, is all. I was worried,”

“Worried?”

“A-About my hand, s-sir. You’re hurting me…” Bill blinked slowly again, looking down and letting go. I stretched out my fingers, rubbing the knuckles.

“My apologies, Dipper. Now come, we should get Will.” It was my turn to blink. _‘He doesn’t use people’s real names…’_

“Captain, what happened?” One rule. I had one rule -no questions- and I was breaking it. This was going to be a long journey…

“Nothing, Pine Tree, just lost my thoughts for a moment.” When we reached Will, she was putting the pouch of theanine in her bag. “Got everything you need, Will?”

“Yes, Bill.” She replied in a strained voice. What had just happened between the two? Will turned to me and asked, “Anything you want to get Little Dipper? Anything you need? We raided a ship not too long before we took you, so we have quite a lot to spend.”

“Well, there are some things I’m going to need if I’m going to navigate the-”

“We have everything you need for that, Little Dipper. What do you want? Indulge yourself.”

“Are you sure, Will? It is your money, and you’re already getting me clothes….”

“Never doubt my sureness, Little Dipper. Let’s go look at stuff!” She started to walk away, and Bill nudged me along. I smiled a bit. She was starting to remind me of Mabel.

“Let’s go, Pine Tree.” He said softly, his eye following his twin.

“Yes, Captain.”

It was nearly sundown, and the port’s ugly twin was starting to wake. The taverns were opening, brothels lighting up, people stumbling around, already drunk. Bill, Will, and I were laden with stuff: Will had almost raided a bakery, taking as much bread as she could buy; Bill had stuffed his pockets with small trinkets and pieces of jewelry, snagging a few things for his twin when her back was turned to surprise her later; I had gotten a leather-bound sketchbook and a few pieces of charcoal to draw and write with, along with a small instrument Will told me was a ukulele.

I had taken an interest in when I saw it, not planning on buying as the older twins were paying for everything. Bill, however, bought it for me anyway, saying that Will could teach me to play.

“You’ll love it, Little Dipper! It makes the most soothing music, in my opinion, and it’s so small and cute, and I’ll teach to play, and paint flowers on it, too! It’s such a nice wood. What kind was it, Bill?”

“Pine, Willow,” Bill smirked a bit. “It’s made of pine wood.” Will laughed, throwing her head back, her entire body shaking.

“Oh, that’s brilliant!” She cheered, “The Pines Boy has a pine ukulele! I’ll teach you to play it well, Little Dipper.”

“Thanks, Will,” I replied, a small smile playing on my lips. Bill’s eye flickered to me, shining brightly. He grabbed Will’s and my hands, tugging us along.

“C’mon, Pine Tree! Let’s get your clothes. We need to get two more things before we leave back to the ship! Time’s a-wasting and we have places to be!!”

“Like where?”

“You’ll see when we get back to the _Mindscape_ ! Besides, it would be unwise to discuss it openly!” I started to panic a bit but pushed it down. _‘Roll with the punches, Dipper. Ask no deep questions. Keep your bliss. Stay ignorant.’_

  
“If you say so, Captain.”


	4. Not the Entire Story, by Will Cipher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Once back on the ship, Bill immediately made me change into some of the new clothes he bought. He took aside one outfit, though, and I knew in the back of mind not to question it. I slipped on a pair of well-fitting brown trousers and a white short sleeved shirt. Bill sat me down on a chair, running a brush through my frowzy hair, and within seconds, all knots and worries were gone…

I know I shouldn’t trust him. I shouldn’t be relaxed. I should be… I don’t know what I should be. There was a certain kef that I felt being on the ship; being around a demon didn’t seem to push that aside. In fact, his nature was pushed out of my mind almost altogether. I  _ knew  _ what he was, but it didn’t seem to change anything. Not when he was like this- calm, humming, off in his own world, kind. The Bill I saw yesterday, this morning, even, was different from the on me before me now. They were angry, or insane, or murderous, or deceiving. This one was gentle, soothing, radiating a sense of calm. It was like a… What’s the word? Sehnsucht. A far away place I could call home, and I’ve found it. Yes, I had been kidnapped, and no, I couldn’t leave. But given the chance, would I? This… 

This was adventure. Magic. Piracy, yes, but the supernatural, too. I could feel it in my bones that this is what was meant to happen. I could feel it in my soul that I could trust this Pirate Captain. 

Without realizing it, I had leaned into Bill’s hands as he pulled my hair back, tying it in a low ponytail. 

“Hey, Pine Tree?” Bill put the brush down.

“Yes, Captain Cipher?” I replied, drowning in drowsy delight.

“Are you scared, sapling?”

“No, Captain.”

“You should be.”

“I know... but,” I sighed, “I don’t seem to be.”

“You were terrified this morning.”

“It seems to have passed, Captain.”

“‘Passed’?” 

“Yes. I don’t feel scared anymore.”

“Why not?”

“You’re not something that I feel I should be scared of.”

“What?!”

“You were brushing my hair and humming a moment ago, Captain. You’re wearing a dress, have bought me clothes, haven’t really made a move to harm me. Maybe yesterday you scared me, but not anymore. You’ve turned around almost completely.” He was speechless for a moment, almost offended.

“But I  _ kidnapped  _ you! And you don’t know why!”

“I’ll learn eventually. Besides… An adventure of a lifetime on a pirate ship? I don’t think I can complain much about it.” I opened an eye, tilting my head back to look at him. 

“And yesterday, you were a nervous wreck. What happened?”

“I don’t know. It’s… IT’s a feeling in my bones. Haven’t you ever felt that, Captain Cipher? That feeling in your bones? Stronger and more precise than any gut feeling, pulling you towards- towards whatever it is you need.  _ Telling  _ you.” Bill paused before patting my shoulder, and I stood. I looked into a full mirror, running my fingers over my new clothes.  _ ‘Mabel wouldn’t recognise me….’  _ I thought.  _ ‘Maybe that’s a good thing.’ _

“Time to get to work, Pine Tree.”

“Yes, Captain.”

After some time, a new course of travel had been set. It was dark out, and we were to leave the port soon. I paced Bill’s study, thoughts running through my mind faster than I could fully understand them. The new course Bill had me set out was utterly insane, and I told him as much, too. 

“What are we looking for, again?” I asked for the umpteenth time, hoping for a different answer this time. 

“A man who escaped my grasp two weeks ago. I have reason to believe he’s hiding somewhere in Havana. Shouldn’t be too hard to find him.”

“Do you have  _ any idea  _ how big Havana is?! Are we even stocked for this kind of trip? This is at least a fortnight! And Havana is huge! How are we going to find one man??? Why are looking for this one guy?? Just let him go, it’s not worth it!” Bill smiled.

“It’s cute that you think you can tell me what to do, kid. Trust me on this one, though; we need this guy.” Ignore the first part...

“Why?”

“Because he has something we want, Pine Tree, and something we need.”

“Such as?”

“I’ll have Will explain.”

“You’ll have Will explain  _ what,  _ brother dearest?” Speak of the Devil. She emerged through the door, carrying a double barreled pistol, a sheathed saber, and a gun holster with loops to hold the saber. 

“You got everything, then?” Bill asked, holding his hand out to take the weapons, probably wanting to inspect them. 

“ _ Noooo, _ ” she responded with sarcasm soaking her lips, “because I’m  _ definitely  _ not holding  _ exactly  _ what you asked for  _ in my hands  _ this  _ very moment,  _ Bill.” She handed them over to him, and I could see the sweat dripping down her cocoa face. He looked the gun over first, making a small, content sound as he checked everything over, satisfied with the iron in his hand. He placed it down gently and picked up the sword, taking it from its sheath. Bill gasped gently, champagne eye wide in amazement. 

“Holy  _ shit,  _ Willow! Where did you steal this…. This  _ beauty _ of a sword?” The saber in his hand was not made of iron or steel. The guard and grip were intricately carved ivory, swirls and ruins painted in black. And the blade…. The blade was obsidian.

“Well, that looks fucking useless.” Bill looked at me like I just insulted the  _ Mindscape.  _

“Excuse me, Pines?” 

“It’s obsidian, right?” I asked, taking it into my hands and inspecting it myself. “Obsidian is strong, but meant for cutting, slicing- not fighting. You see it more in knives, because most sabers are steel, and it’ll shatter by the first hit. Looks fucking useless to me.” Bill raised a brow, grinning.

“You’re right, Pine Tree.” He replied, “It would shatter. If it wasn’t enchanted.” 

“En- enchanted?” My curiosity peaked, and I took a closer look to the ruins in the guard. 

“Bingo, Pine Tree. It’ll never shatter with those little ruins right there! Gives it the properties of any steel saber  _ and  _ obsidian. Still useless?”

“Well, if it can’t shatter, then it’s possibly one of the most dangerous weapons I’ve ever seen, Captain.” I smiled, offering it back to him, but he refused. 

“These are for you, kid. You’re going to need to be able to protect yourself. Starting tomorrow, Will here as agreed to take you under her wing. She’ll teach you everything you need to know. She’ll also tell you about our next stop to Havana. Won’t you, Will?” Her face darkened, and unwillingness crossed her face, but she nodded. “Good! Because I have to go make sure you didn’t kill Tad with the bread overload.” He sauntered out, but I could feel the monstrous anger masked under the suave. 

“Why is he so… Furious?” I turned to Will, who took her twin’s seat. Head in hand, she sighed, as though she tired. Not the physical tired, or even an emotional or mental kind of tired. It was something in her soul, the kind only identifiable by the eyes. 

“Bill is… You have to understand, Little Dipper, that demons feel emotions differently from when we were human. All demons were once human, after all, that’s part of what makes us so horrible. All of our emotions are amplified. Bill and I are different kinds of demons. He’s a dream demon, a master of the mind. He can play with your emotions, likes and dislikes, read your thoughts, see your memories- he can give you nightmares that can scar you for the rest of your natural-born life or give you the sweetest dreams you’ve ever had. He makes deals with whoever is willing. It’s his nature- and he abhors it when people back out of deals. Always has.

“I am a demon of Sight- I can tell what is going to happen, what has happened, or what is happening now, in a different location. I can even see alternate outcomes and alternate worlds where those outcomes came true. I can see aura and emotion. I’m not as strong as Bill magic-wise, never was, but only because  _ I  _ choose to bottle it away.  _ I  _ refuse to let my demon nature get the better of me, and for 30 years, I’ve been successful.”

“Wait… You’re one,too?”

“Of course.” Her eyes flashed blue, her pupils becoming long, horizontal slits. “Lock the door behind you, Little Dipper.” For a moment, I couldn’t move. Were they both demons?  _ ‘Don’tdoanthinglet’sjustsurvivethisdon’tdoanything-’ _

_ ‘ _ **_ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW YOU IGNORED THE FIRST ONE YOU’RE GONNA DIE YOU FUCKING-_ ** _ ’ _

_ ‘Or maybe I won’t? Maybe-’ _

“Little Dipper? The door.” Will said again, “Now.” I got up and locked it, turning back to her. “Look, Dipper, there are certain things you must understand if you’re going to- if you’re going to be part of this crew. Sit, please.” I did so, not taking my eyes off of her as her eyes changed back to their original champagne orbs. “Now, I’m not going to tell you the whole story, because there are some parts that are not for me to tell. Thirty years ago, Bill and I, as human witches, worked with two men- one named Fiddleford McGucket, who we are currently looking for, and one named Stanford Pines.”

“Grunkle Stan?! But- But he-”

“Can it, Dipper, and let me tell the story! The Stan you know was Stanford’s twin, Stanley. Why he took on his brother’s name, I don’t know. Ford had six fingers on each hand, though- he was an anomaly. He was a man of science, and captained the ship with his twin, on the  _ Stan O’ War.  _ The twins picked us up in Kokomo. We were all young- they were 28, we were 25. We spent a lot of time with them there, and Bill and Ford got close. 

“You see, Ford was studying the paranormal: that which could not be explained by any normal means. He wanted to know about everything, record everything supernatural. A true man of science, he was. But he couldn’t do it on his own- so he enlisted our help when he stopped in Kokomo. At the time, Bill and I made deal after deal, and the price was almost always the same: take us on your ship, as far as we can go. When For found us, we were excited. How could we not be? He wanted someone to share their knowledge of the supernatural, someone to explore with- the longest deal we would have. Once we got aboard the ship… Oh, that  _ ship!  _ We could learn so much, with Fiddleford and the twins. To go as far as we could, learn with Ford and teach him magic and help with his project. That was the deal, of course. We help him, he takes us on his travels. Ford and Bill even started keeping these journals.

“What we didn’t know,” She continued, bitterness and anger welling in her voice, “Was that Ford didn’t trust us. He was planning to dump us as soon as he could. Back then, my Sight was wasn’t as clear, and I couldn’t control what I saw or when. I wasn’t the best at magic, either, that as Bill. He was so… So happy, back then. He trusted Ford full-heartedly. And then… I messed everything up. I was practicing magic, and… 

“McGucket intervened, and was caught in something he shouldn’t have. He wasn’t the same after that. It was an accident. And Ford made me pay dearly for it. I tried explaining… But he was just waiting for an excuse. One thing lead to another, and we became this. Demons. Bill blames Ford, and he has every right to! It’s because of him we’re like this! Bill has sworn revenge on the Pines family because of what Ford did, and because of what Stan didn’t do. He knew I didn’t mean to hurt the old Professor, but all he did was stand by and WATCH!! 

“Bill tried sinking the ship, but Stan and McGucket got away. We thought Ford was dead for a long time. Stan hid your family very well, Dipper, but not well enough. We found your Grandfather and parents, and then we found you. If we get McGucket, we’ll be sure to find Ford, and dammit, we’ll find Stan, too!

“They  _ betrayed us,  _ Dipper, and he cheated on his deal! They  _ are  _ going down. Right now, our best bet for McGucket is in Havana, and if Stan is as clever as I remember, he’s on our tail this minute.” 

“You’re going to kill me.” My voice was small, but there was no question. Any anger Willow had disappeared.

“I don’t want you dead, Dipper. All I ever wanted was revenge for what those Stans did to me and Bill. You, and even your sister, will live. I promise. I just want Stan and Ford.”

“If not you, then Bill.”

Will said nothing for a while.


	5. The Full Story: By Bill Cipher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

That night, Bill kept me locked in his chambers. I was given a nightshirt and told to sleep. I couldn't, not for a long time. I assumed it was about midnight when he finally came back to his chambers, stripping to his underclothes, leaving the rest thrown haphazardly across the floor, and crawling tiredly into his bed next to me. I tensed when he pulled me by the hips closer to him, and he felt it.

“I thought I told you to sleep, Pine Tree?” He muttered sleeply, his voice gravelly and deep from exhaustion.

“I- I couldn’t, Captain.” I shivered. His cold hands brushed over my thighs, under the big shirt I was given to wear, and he sighed. His unnaturally icy breath tickled the back of my neck, causing the skin to rise in bumps with a small, poorly contained shiver.

"Go the fuck to sleep, kid." He whispered, and my eyelids felt heavier than they've ever been. "I'll see you in your dreams, kid." And I did. To this day, I don't know why he showed me what he did when he did. Then again, I never did understand Bill Cipher completely.

  


* * *

  


_It all started a lifetime ago…._

_It was far too sunny out, but the twins didn't care. They were young and happy, playing in their underclothes in the clear ocean waters surrounding the Hawaiian island. The two had left a small community there- Kokomo. With magic, they built a small shelter on the outskirts of the small city, mostly to protect all of their things from all their travels. It's all they had._

_The more vocal of the two, Willow, was screaming in joy, wading through the clear water and splashing handfuls at her twin. William, both eyes wide and intact, was happily collecting shells, laughing and making a gust of wind spray her in the face in retaliation, the thick mist making Willow squee._

_“Billlll~!” She whined her eyes wide as she giggled, before stopping cold._

_"Will?" Her twin called out. Worry suddenly seeped into his voice; he dropped his shells and went over to her as fast as he could, pushing his hair out of his face. He worried a lot for his sister- not because she couldn't care for herself, but because she was his greatest treasure. He knew in his heart he would die for his twin. She was one of the few people who trusted him, and he, her. "Will?" He asked again, bringing her to the shore and sitting her in the sand. He moved her hands from her golden glowing eyes, rubbing circles on her back._

_A minute or so later, she came from her small trance._

_“Bill?” She whispered, clutching her twin’s hand as the glow died away._

_“Yes, Willow? What did you see?”_

_“A ship!” She whispered excitedly, eyes wide with the hope for adventure. “A beautiful ship by the name of the_ Stan O’ War _! Oh, Bill, it was an explorer! One of the Captains is looking for someone who knows the supernatural, knows magic to help him on his projects and investigations. They'll be reaching the island in three days! Do you know what this means?!"_

_"It means we'll be making the best goddamn deal we've ever made, Will! Back to the hut, we've got to make this deal irresistible!"_

  


* * *

_Three days had passed. They made the makeshift house disappear, packing their things and putting their best clothes on. They were mirror images of each other- one in blue, one in gold. The ship was in sight, an hour or so away, and they were waiting for it to arrive, right where Will said it would be. She sat on one of the three trunks, watching as he paced happily in the sand and going over plans and lines with her._

_On the deck of the_ Stan O’ War, _a different, older set of twins were the same. Stanley sat back, watching his twin pace a hole through the floor._

_“Ford, that’s enough!” He laughed, “We’ll be there soon.”_

_"I know, I know, Stanley, but you know I can't help it! Just imagine what we're going to see! I've been tracking the griffin migration for a year and a half, and if my calculations are correct, this is where they'll stop next. We'll be the first to document such a thing!" The six-fingered man cooed excitedly._

_“I know, Ford. Come on, let’s wait for Fiddleford and Miss Colt.” Stan replied, knowing how excitable his beloved twin could get. They both made their way to the helm, looking happily to the land ahead of them._

_By the time they had reached land, they had already been told of the two -apparent- men standing at the beach, bags packed and ready to go. Of course, as Captains of the ship, the older twins greeted the younger, not expecting the response they got in return._

_“Greetings!” Ford started, stepping forward with a hand- having long ago stopped being bothered by the stares and looks because of his anomaly- held out. “We’re Captains-”_

_“Stanford and Stanley Pines, of the_ Stan O’ War _! It’s a real pleasure to meet you!” The Cipher twins replied in unison, holding out opposite hands for the Pines twins to shake. Will grabbed Ford’s, and Bill grabbed Stan’s, crossing their arms._

_“How did you know that?” Ford asked in fascination, eyes wide and pushing glasses up his face._

_“The name of the ship is on the damn side, dimwit…” Stan muttered, but it went unnoticed._

_“We’re mages, Sixer! Witches, if you will. You want to learn magic, yes?” Bill chirped._

_“How did you-”_

_"Masters of the mind, Sixer," Bill answered. "We were looking for an apprentice to take under our wing- only the finest, most intelligent of the lot!"_

_“ The brightest mind we could find!” Will continued._

_"A brilliant man to inspire! And we've chosen you, Ford. Do you want us to teach you?" Bill praised, before rolling his eyes. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm William Cipher, and this here is my lovely twin sister, Willow!"_

_“Sister??” Stan snorted, at the same time Ford muttered, “Brilliant?”_

_“Most just call us Bill and Will. You never answered my brother’s question, Ford.” Will chimed._

_“Yes, I-I do!” Ford exclaimed, smile widening. The Cipher twins smiled at each other, before looking back to him._

_“Then let’s make a deal.” They said._

* * *

_It had been eight months, now._

_Eight months since the Pines' twins took them aboard. Ford was learning much faster than they thought he would, and he was always looking forward to new lessons. In eight months, Ford and Bill filled two journals to the brim with knowledge on monsters and codes; ciphers to be solved and monsters to be understood. They were working on their third when it happened._

_Bill and Ford had gotten close. The blond, who had only recently started to mark himself with these strange tattoos he now possesses, had trusted Ford full-heartedly, and Ford had full-heartedly captured Bill's heart. The younger was head-over-heels in love and was under the impression that Ford loved him, too. Bill had never trusted anyone more, save for his twin. Bill, or William, as Stanford only called him, told Ford every secret, happily, thinking that they would be secrets well-kept. It seemed as though Bill and William were two different people._

_William felt he very rarely got far with Ford emotionally, and hardly ever romantically. Sometimes, William could manage to steal a kiss from Ford when they were working alone, but only once or twice has Ford ever kissed back. Once or twice a week, they would get together in the dead of night, always in Ford’s room, never for anything other than sex. After a while, though, this routine upset William. In the back of his mind he was starting to catch on, but to William, the sex they had was- it was ineffable love-making. So the thought was pushed to the farthest reaches and hardly ever touched upon. At this time, his sight was shrouded in pink, and his main focus was letting themselves be themselves, so they wouldn’t have to hide anymore and be as happy together as William foolishly dreamed._

_Bill's relationship with Stan was pleasant enough and absolutely nonexistent with Fiddleford. As for Miss Fiona Colt, Ford's trusted First Mate and Quartermaster from Jamaica, Bill absolutely loathed her. Granted, it was more of a petty, jealous hate than anything, but with the way, Ford looked at her, and how Ford could talk to her about anything and the fact that they were both twenty-eight and Bill was only twenty-six made him feel small and childish with no control and-_

_Let’s just say Bill hated her with the very being of his soul._

_As for Will? She got along with everyone swimmingly, as she sang for them and played cards for them; drank with them and fought alongside them. Fiddleford, she especially bonded with. They had a sort of understanding, an unofficial deal of sorts: she could use his private quarters to practice and expand her magic alone, and she would make sure to remind him to eat and sleep, bathe and see the sun every once in awhile. She referred to him as only Professor McGucket, or “the Professor” out of respect, and for the same reason, he only called her “Miss Cipher.”_

_One afternoon, as they left port somewhere on the Gulf of Mexico, the Professor had found something for Will- a beautiful violin for her to master if she had not already. As soon as he opened the door to his study, though, he was bombarded with pure insanity. The violin dropped, and he fell to his knees. Willow couldn’t stop it. She projected the scene around her: Weirdmageddon, and the word being torn apart by two merciless beings in leading it._

_And the Professor saw it all._

**_“A party that never ends with hosts that never die!”_ ** _The future twins cheered to the legion of demons taking over the changed town of Gravity Falls before it all abruptly disappeared._

_“Pr-professor McGucket?” Will rushed over, picking him up easily and placing him on the bed. He was simply in shock, Will knew. Unfortunately, she did this to Bill far too many times to know it what it looked like. “I am so sorry-”_

_“Fiddleford, I was just making- what the hell happened?!” Ford snapped, worry seeping in his voice, and Will cringed._

_“I- it- I- he walked in while I was practicing my Sight. It was an accident! He’s just in shock, saw some things he shouldn’t have, is all.”_

_“He’s like this because of you?” His words are slow and steely. In one swift movement, he snatched her up, dragging her out, and in an instant, she knew her fate. She went kicking and screaming, fighting with all her might, but she knew it was futile. She was weak now from the magic, and Ford knew it._

_Bill, laid down naked in Ford's bed in complete bliss with the evidence of the events that took place not twenty minutes ago littering the bed. He was happy._

_Until he heard his twin screeching._

_In seconds, he was up, magicking his clothes on and leaving the room._

_“WILLOW?” he yelled, sprinting out, demanding for his sister with his eyes only. “What’s going on?” He saw Ford then, wrapping his sister in cursed chains, tied to a heavyweight and gagged. She was not screaming. She was not moving. She simply accepted her fate, as she always did. “Ford? Wh-... What are you doing?” As quick as the shock came, anger replaced it._

_It took four of Ford’s strongest men to hold him back._

_“Willow broke the deal: used her magic and hurt one of our crew. She broke Fiddleford. She broke the deal, and now she pays.”_

_“Ford- Stanford, please! Will never hurt anyone purposely- please- she’s my only family, Ford, PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!” He started to scream, straining against the other men. He couldn’t let anyone take his family from him again._

_He saw the chains again, face paling more if possible. The ruins placed there were ones the Cipher twins had shown Ford to contain the two creatures that could wield the strongest magic: witches and Demons._ _ **He** taught_ _Ford those._ **_He_ ** _gave Ford every tool he needed to break the two. For the first time in ten years, he cried, feeling completely helpless. The blond started to beg with Ford, pleading with Stan; begging and pleading and sobbing._

_And still, Will stayed silent as she was pushed to the plank, holding the lead weight that would kill her. You could see it on her face- she truly believed she deserved this, that in this moment she truly was a monster worth killing. She was not._

_Bill knew in a moment he was going to become one._

_He started to summon all of his strength and power, blue fire rising high and burning the four men holding him back. Will jumped, and Bill burned a path behind him as he barreled past, jumping in after his twin, water boiling in his wake._

_The crew was silent, dipping their heads in grievance for the soon-to-be-dead._

_“Thought you loved him, Ford.” was all Stan muttered. Ford couldn’t tell him that he almost did._

_The twins kept sinking. Deeper and darker, they kept sinking. Bill did all he could, trying to free her, but the ruins were perfect. He knew it was no use, so with the last of his magic, all of his twin’s power, and the power of all the living things around him, he performed the last spell he’d ever use as a human. Will passed out from lack of air, letting out her last breath and the salty water filled her lungs, and Bill followed soon after._

_Even Death could not separate the two._

_But Bill knew Death was not the end of them today._

* * *

  


I woke with a start, sunlight hitting my face harshly, breathing heavy, feeling like I myself had been the one drowning. Bill was sleeping still, but peaceful it was not. He was fidgeting, twitching and on the verge of waking. His face was scrunched up and it looked as though he had been crying in his sleep. Just as I reached my hand out to wake him, his gold eye snapped open.

“Captain? Are you alright?” My voice was soft, and I pulled my hand back quickly.

“That dream, Pine Tree?” I nodded. “Those were memories. Your family, your great uncles, did this to us. They forced our hand. We didn’t deserve what happened to us. They deserve what happens to them now. Do you understand?” I paused.

“Yes, Captain.” It was his turn to hesitate.

“Call me Bill, please.”

“Why?”

“Please.”

“Yes, Bill.”

“.... Thank you.” He whispered.

“Do you…. Need a moment, or something, Bill?” I wondered aloud, starting to sit up, but he pulled me back down by the waist, my back to his chest.

“Please stay?” his voice was small, and he sounded just as young as he did towards the end of the dream. Well- he was physically just as young, but now he sounded older. More worn. Less afraid.

“Yes, Bill. I will.” I could use with a sleeping in away.

“Mention that dream to anyone and I’ll-”

  
“Kill me? Understood.” I smirked, and he hummed in acknowledgment.


	6. Oh God, It All Happened So Fast.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Bill get closer, and it ends in a story.

It had been a month.

 

An _entire month_ on this ship, and I had fallen into a routine:

 

-Wake up with Bill.

 

-Get dressed.

 

-Eat breakfast in the galley with everyone.

 

-Chat with the Cipher Twins.

 

-?????? (After this all plans are up in the air for me. Bill always has something for me to do that he ‘just couldn’t’ have any of the other crew members do. Somewhere in here I would train with Will in one thing or another, and Bill would pull me aside at one point or another to do something- sometimes just to talk.)

 

-Have dinner (maybe).

 

-Go to bed with Bill.

 

-Have nightmares about the fate of my Grunkle Stan when Bill found him, and what might happen to Mabel…

 

-Wake up in a panicked fit for a little while, accidentally waking up Bill, shaking and whimpering for a while until he tried- and usually failed- to calm me down.

-Go back to sleep.

  


But despite these nightly terrors I had, despite some of Bill’s terrors he had on occasion, and despite the fact that I was seeming to be more than just a crew member nowadays, we had otherwise slept well. Mostly due to the fact that the days were filled with responsibilities on the Captain’s part, and chores and training- and every other thing to do on the planet- on mine that left us both exhausted.

 

A month of rigorous, non-stop training. Twice, Bill  had taken me out with him on a raid, and once took me and Will (Will, being the Quartermaster, had to join her brother on of all his ‘official’ transactions) to a trade meeting with a small French man-child that loved collecting furs and skins of which we had an abundance of. The small, chubby Frenchman paid a lot for these furs, claiming that “the Gleeful Household only accepted the best,” so he paid us in enough gold, jewels, and supplies to last us for a long time. It seemed that he knew of our…. Illegal activities, but kept up appearances and kept quiet for everyone’s sake.

The crew was given their cut, of course, but they gambled, drank, and slept their money away, so it hardly ever lasted longer than a week for most. Bill was ecstatic with how this ‘official’ transaction turned out: he said that the gold he got, along with the supplies from that bargain, was enough to send us to our stop in Havana. _“I absolutely abhor Havana,”_ He told me once, _“But Fiddleford knows that, so it’s our best shot. I’d much rather be somewhere in Puerto Rico, though…. Maybe we’ll go there. They’ve got beautiful beaches and some of my favorite fruit:_ _Chironja, guaynabana, coco….”_

 

I saved up my relatively small share of the money, though. Will told me to be cautious, that it would be in my best interest to save up. Every pay was stashed away under Bill’s bed, which he insisted (ordered) that I share with him. I think he enjoyed my presence in his bed, and I must admit that is was nice having his warmth. He was good with my nightmares, soothing me until I was asleep once again. Will seemed to love us being close, saying often that it was good for her brother to be making close connections again. I never understood why he treated me differently. I slept in his bed, shared his washroom; he confided in me and gave me his trust quickly. Personally made sure I knew how to wield a sword and protect myself.

 

He taught me how to hold a scowl, bare my teeth, and stare a man down with such a cold, hateful, soulless glare during a fight, or for any other reason, I would need to look more powerful than I was. I didn’t understand, though, why he did. What made me so spe-

 

Oh.

 

_Oh._

 

By the gods, as smart as I was, I could be truly thick sometimes. Constantly wanting me by his side? Treating me with not just civility, but with care? Allowing me to call him by his first name, chatting and bantering with me, giving me praise? Holding me and sleeping in with me; playing with my hair as he thought I was sleeping in the early hours of the morning. His high concern for my wellbeing, and his gentleness when I spoke of Mabel when I missed her more than usual….

 

I needed to be sure, though. Before I did anything and seem like a fool, I needed to make sure. The first thing I did was ask Will; when I asked her, though, she started to screech in a very Mabelesque way. I did what any sane man would do- backed away slowly until I was far enough away to turn and run to safety.

 

My feet lead me the private quarters of Tad Strange, First Mate and Bill’s best friend, his right-hand man. If Bill was going to have an “off” day, Tad would know that morning. If Bill was upset or angry about something, Tad could figure out in seconds why. Tad, Will, and Bill were their own small family, joined at the hip. If I wanted to know something about Bill, I would simply have to ask Tad now.  For the right price, of course- he and Bill were too much alike to not have a price for even the smallest of things (though Bill often just let me off with IOUs and “forgot” about them later.) I got to Strange’s private cabin, knocking on the door gently, not wanting to disturb him if he was doing something important. I wanted information but… We walked on eggshells around each other. He didn’t like me, and I was kind of scared of him. He didn’t like how close I was to the Cipher Twins; didn’t like how-how quickly I learned to fight with a weapon I previously hated or how I perfected using it so quickly; didn’t like how I could be so strong despite my stature; didn’t like my style. He just didn’t like _me_ , but I was taking my chances.

I knocked again.

 

“Come in!” he called, and I did so, closing the door behind me. He had his back turned to me, but when I walked in he knew. He sneered his words, and I could almost see the scrunched up, hateful look on his face. “Oh, it’s you. Why are you here?”

 

Shuffling my feet, not looking up, “I-I wanted to know something about Bill… I- he- how do I say this…?”

 

“What have you done?” he demanded, his voice becoming stern and cold as he turned to me. The purple-eyed man stalked towards me, reaching me in seven quick steps and taking me by the shoulders.

 

“I- I wasjustwonderingifyouknewanythingabouthimlikingme!” I blurted out quickly, going red in the face and looking away. He stared at me like I had just told him, in full honesty, that the moon was an illusion.

 

“Of course he likes you- he’s so invested in you that I’m getting worried.” The grip on my shoulders disappeared, his light steps back towards the desk, and the shuffling of his papers soon afterward the only sound filling the cabin. I was taken aback, the heat rising in my face.

 

“Not that kind of- does he- I mean, like-”  

 

“Spit it out, Pines.”

 

“Does he- like- fancy me?” He turned again, giving me a curious look before scowling.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“B-b-because I fancy him and-”

 

“Oh, this is great,” he growled, sarcasm foaming at the mouth, “Bloody fuckin’ great.” I looked down, upset rolling through me as I turned on my heel and walked out. The door shut with a resounding _slam_ as soon as I was gone.

 

I almost sprinted out onto the deck, crawling up the rigging of the mainmast until I was holed up in the crow’s nest. My heart was beating so hard that it felt like it was going to burst, my face lit aflame. I couldn’t seem to breathe correctly. _‘Why can’t I just ask him?’_ I thought desperately, _‘What if I just make a fool of myself? What if, what if, what if….’_

 

I stood there, looking out at the vast waters before me without seeing and listening to a voice I couldn’t understand- alongside the echo of my mother giving me advice- calming after what seemed like minutes, though it was more like hours. I was so deep in my own mind that a man crawled up the rigging without me knowing until he was in the crow’s nest with me, looking out at the vast waters with me. Looking, and seeing the beauties that I couldn’t. A strong hand was placed down on my shoulder, but I didn’t flinch.

 

“Good afternoon, Captain,” I said, loud enough to be heard over the winds, but only just. I didn’t turn to look at him. “Is there something you need, sir?”

 

“How many times have I told you that there’s no need for such formalities between us, Pine Tree?” he muttered, his lips brushing up against my ear, making my face go beet red. His gloved hand slid up, his fingers curling gently into my hair, tugging ever so slightly.

 

“Is there something you needed, Bill?” I asked again, quieter this time.

 

“Hmm,” He mused for a moment, pulling away, “Yes. See, Tad told me what happened, and Will confirmed by screaming like a schoolgirl. However, I want to hear it from you- how do you feel about me, Pine Tree? Because it would be a _real_ shame if I fancied you, and you didn’t return my affections.” I turned and faced him, red as a tomato and shaking.

 

“I-I- You’re a great captain... Truly, a fearsome pirate, and you’re- you’re very handsome and- and always so caring towards me, always making sure I’ve got what I need, even if I don’t know I need it. You listen to me, put up with me, allow our relationship to be much more relaxed and personal than it should be. You’re a charmer and you’re a flirt and you’re insane and you’re mysterious and you’re a romantic. You don’t seem to stop for anything or anyone, always surging forward in your plans, no hesitation, no restraint. You-... You’ve captured me, William- I do love calling you William- and I’m afraid I don’t want to be let go….

 

“I think I love you,” I muttered, at last, knowing he heard me. “Rather, I think we _could_ love each other. Love takes time to grow and become love, but I do know these things: I love how you hold me and touch me and how you let me hold you and touch you before we sleep; I love how you wake before dawn but stay with me until you think I’m awake; I love that pure laugh of yours, when you’re truly happy. Have you seen yourself laugh? Your whole body shakes until you’re bent over, and it’s… Naturally evil-sounding. Like, I just thought ‘oh, he’s trying to be scary,’ or ‘he’s being sarcastic,’ but no. You actually laugh like that, except when it’s happy laughing- you snort occasionally. It’s the most beautifully terrible laugh I’ve ever heard, and I want to hear it all the time. I love seeing your crooked smile, the one where all your teeth are showing and the entire side of your mouth just _tilts_ with it. I certainly have an attraction to you, and if you could give me the smallest of chances… We could be happy, I think. Together.”

 

I waited a moment, looking down with a face so red that I was sure my cheeks looked like cherries. I only had to wait a moment before I felt his fingers holding my chin, bringing my face up to his. And the smile on his face- oh, his entire face lit up! His beautiful, graceful, crooked grin stretched from ear to ear, lighting up his golden champagne eye. He was so close now that his nose was pressed up against mine.

 

Fuck it.

 

I tilted my head and pressed my lips to his, kissing him heatedly, softly, passionately… His eye had closed but I couldn’t get mine to do the same. My hands ghosted up his dark skin until they rested on his cheeks, pulling him down. Bill’s lips moved with mine, teeth grazing my lower lip and making me gasp. Wasting no time, he dove in, his tongue dominating mine in seconds and exploring my mouth, making me moan. He wrapped his marked arms around my waist, itching to move his hands down, I could tell. He kept his arms around my waist, though, holding back- I was only a little disappointed.

 

 _‘Soon enough, Dipper…’_ he replied, hearing my thoughts. _‘Later tonight, if you want… We just have a surprise for you today, and you’ll need to be able to move.’_

 

 _‘A surprise?’_ I asked, pulling back reluctantly (I hated to break the kiss, but I needed to breathe), completely ignoring most of that statement. I had gotten used to his telepathy at this point, though I preferred to just speak to him. “What surprise?”

 

“Happy 20th circle around the sun, kid.” he was right by my ear again, lips brushing up against the lobe that he gently took between his teeth, tugging and sucking and playing with the small, light gold circular earring that hung there. Bill insisted I wore it about a week ago, him having the other on his own ear. Possibly for this precise purpose- pulling and playing with the plump earlobe, swirling his tongue around the gold and growling lowly before pulling back, leaving my face flushed. He giggled cutely, causing more blood to rush up from my face.

 

The demon captain then picked me up, one arm just below my rear end, the other supporting my back as he stepped up onto the railing of the crow's nest. My arms immediately went around his neck, my eyes closing tightly. I felt him step off, felt my stomach drop as I fell, and the soft landing as his feet hit the ground with a gentle _thud._ His chest rumbled as he laughed, lowering me to the ground carefully.

 

“Are you going to open your eyes, Dipper?” I let out a small breath, doing so and gripping his arm tightly. I pulled him close, whispering words so softly in his ear that he may not have heard them.

 

“If you ever do that again... I _will_ stab you. I don’t care how much I love you.”

 

“Understood, Dipper, Sir!” He heard...There was that crooked smile again, bringing a happy shine to his eye as he mock saluted me, grabbing my free hand and starting to take me down to the dining hall. “Dipper, notice something off?”

 

Looking around, it took me only a few seconds longer than it should have to see what he saw- there was no one around, save for two or three swabbies to keep everything in check. It was quiet, but I could hear music and laughter and dancing feet as we neared our destination. I also noticed that Bill had started calling me by my name again- I loved it, but I liked my new nickname more. When _he_ said my name it felt… Intimate. Strangely so.

 

 _‘I’ll save calling you by your name for the bedroom, then, Pine Tree.’_ Bill shot me a smug glance as I blushed madly, slugging his arm. He kept rubbing gently where I hit him, pouting by the time we reached the double doors to the mess hall. Maybe I hit him too hard- but I heard him howl in laughter and decided that I didn’t. I could smell the food and rum as we neared our destination.

 

“Are they having a party in there?”

 

“They sure are, Pine Tree! Happy birthday.” The door swung open and I gasped - the boring hall had been reinvented into something utterly beautiful. The tables had been moved to the sides, leaving a large space for dancing, as most of the crew was. Tad was playing a cheery tune at a piano that had been brought in gods-know-when, accompanied by Will, singing happily along. The rest of them were drinking heavily at the tables, singing with Will, eating, telling stories or arm- wrestling. There were colorful lanterns everywhere- lining the walls, littering the tables and lighting the whole room in a swirl of color.

 

Not to mention how the light _moved-_ it glinted and gleamed, moving across the walls and on the demon crew like sunlight going through a forest’s canopy. Dark hues of green shifted about the wood, giving off the feeling of being in the woods rather than the sea. Upon closer inspection of the lanterns- one being right by my foot, I almost kicked it- you could see that instead of a candle lighting the jar, there was a ball of colorful light illuminating it. It was a dark moss color, glowing softly. I wondered if I could touch it, hold it in my hands instead of the jar.

 

 _‘My favorite shade of my favorite color,’_ I thought, _‘And it’s glowing in a jar for me.’_  I jumped as I felt hands slip around my hips, bumping into the hilt of my sword and making me nearly drop the jar.

 

“Well, don’t just stand here! Get to it, it’s a party! Your birthday party. Enjoy it. And yes, keep the jar. I figured green was your favorite color, so I- ah…”

 

“You- you made all of these for me?” I looked up at demon captain as best I could, both of us beet red. The Captain let go of me quickly, eyes flitting around the room and nearly sprinting away as he muttered something about ‘shiny things’ and needing to take them. I could only laugh as I continued further into the party, waiving at Will as I passed through her line of sight.

 

I quickly found an empty table in the corner, claiming a random seat and holding the jar out in front of me. Giggling like a small child and swinging my legs, I watched the light swish and swirl around inside its glass cage, the intensity of the light changing as I willed it to. I wanted nothing more than to open it up and play with the ball of light, but I knew I probably shouldn’t.

 

Oh, it wouldn’t hurt….

 

I opened the jar, putting my hand inside and grabbing the gelatinous glowing glob, grappling giddily with it for a few moments before I could get a good grip on it- tight enough where it wouldn’t float away but loosely enough where it couldn’t squeeze past my fingers. It was like holding a bar of wet, slightly melted soap. ‘ _Soap that could light up the washroom and float to the ceiling....’_

 

 _‘It’s a ball of spiritual energy, so the most it can do is give you memories of the poor meat sack it inhabited and some light. Other things, too, but if you tried any of that you’d start going mad. Probably.’_ Bill told me, coming into my line of sight once more.

 

 _“Thought you had some shiny things to collect, Captain?”_ A smirk tugged at my lips as I trained my eyes on him from across the room. _“Got bored of them?”_

 

 _“Yes, I did. Their shine doesn’t compare to the one in your eyes~”_ He sang.

 

After a few minutes, he seemed to regain his composer and cool as he strode towards me again, pulling a chair out and turning min to the side so we faced each other. Sitting across from me and offering a flirtatious smile, leaving me only to respond with red cheeks as he leaned in like he was going to kiss me, before pulling back teasingly.

 

“So why are you sitting here by yourself? It’s a party, it’s _your_ party. You should be eatin’ and drinkin’ an’ havin’ a good time!” His speech started to become more improper as he went, his smile widening and his hands planted themselves on my knees. My blush could only deepen.

 

“I’ve, ah, never been too good with this kind of thing. Trust me, I’m fine here…. Very private here.” I pushed the ball of spiritual energy- I decided to ask him more about it later- back into the jar, closing the lid tightly.

 

“Oh, whatcha tryinna imply ‘ere, Pine Tree?” He teased, his hands sliding further up to reach my mid-thigh.

 

“Wh- I- I- nothing I just - just- look- I- Oh, fuck it… Come ‘ere, Cipher.” I pulled him by the collar, pressing our open mouths together, pushing my tongue against his and starting a battle for dominance.  With a grunt of surprise, he accepted me gladly, grabbing me by the hips and pulling me onto his lap. His eye fluttered shut, but once again my eyes could not. My fingers traveled up and locked behind the captain’s neck as I straddled him, moaning quietly, in turn bringing on a moan from him. I lost the battle, in the end, letting him go through every part of my mouth, but not before I got my own taste of him: rum…. Apple?  And… something else. Something bitter, yet good. Something I’d never tasted, something deliciously amazing- then it was gone.

 

I pulled back, puzzled, eyeing him curiously. _What was that taste?_

 

“Wha’s wrong, Pine Tree?” He asked, eye hazy. “Why 'd ya stop?”

 

“What’s that taste on your tongue, Captain? Not the rum, or the apple- something else. What is it?” I settled and relaxed on his lap, twirling blond locks of his hair at the nape of his neck. He paused, thinking for a moment before a cute, crooked grin slid onto his face.

 

“Chocolate, Pine Tree!” He laughed, curling his arms around me even more and standing, taking me to a table across the room. Those who saw us smiled kindly or shrugged it off. “Don’t tell me you’ve never had chocolate!”

 

“Then I won’t say anything….” I muttered as my gaze met Will’s. She smiled wider than I’ve ever seen her, and left the piano, telling Tad to continue for her. She joined us as we reached the “Drinking Table”, as someone had so nicely named it. Decorated with bottles of rum and wine, a few bottles of whiskey, and, lo and behold, a few pitchers of dark, sweet-smelling liquid with a bit of froth. “That’s chocolate, I assume? I mean, I know it’s brown…. And that it’s more of a European thing. That’s it.”

 

“Little Dipper’s never had chocolate?!?” Will exclaimed, wide-eyed and disbelieving. “This is _unacceptaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAble_!!”

 

“I know, Will!!! HE MUST DRINK IMMEDIATELY!!” Her twin replied, setting me down gently and drawing a few eyes to us. Bill took a mug, filling it almost to the brim with the chocolate and handing it to me. I looked down at it, then looked back to the twins- they bore identical grins as they waited in anticipation of my reaction.

 

I looked down again as I took a sip, and I swear to all the gods my life changed for the third time ever. It was bitter, but then the sugar came in and sweetly took over as it slid down my throat and the bunches of other little flavors that followed in its wake. My eyes widened as I looked back to Bill, who was staring at me with a happy, crooked grin. Will looked as Mabel would: bouncing on the balls of her feet and eyes shining happily.

 

“Wha da ya think, Pine Tree?” Bill asked quietly, not sure what my face was telling him.

 

“It is the most beautiful thing I have ever tasted in my entire life…” I whispered, taking in a shaky breath and gulping the drink down. His smile widened unnaturally but not uncharacteristically as Will cheered, happy that I had loved the concoction so much.

 

“Now don’t take it all in at once, Dipper, or you might choke. Don’t worry, though, I made that mistake, too, my first time.” He winked at that, but I was too far gone to care. This drink of the gods, this holy nectar, tasted as though it could cure any illness and make me immortal. I felt all the pains I had- from the soreness in my bones to the sharp tug in my heart this whole ‘being captured’ ordeal had brought me to the very sharp fluttering I got in my gut whenever good ole’ Mr. Cipher touched me- all those pains, they faded away. I stumbled into a seat not too far from that table and I continued to drink.  

 

The Cipher twins sat by me as I continued to drink solemnly, taking in the party from my wooden throne. Will started to excitedly tell me a thrilling tale consisting of a merchant ship holding tons of cacao powder, golden treasures, and a small rowboat. How the two of them managed to take it over completely, by themselves, making them permanent enemies of the British Empire in the process, evade the British Navy and live to tell the tale, is beyond me. Demons, man.

 

Bill kept refilling my plate and cup, trying to get me to dance, trying to pull me up to the piano to sing, to make me do _something_ , but I was content with just listening to stories of their adventures with my Grunkles, of their childhood, of anything they were willing to share. Will, not surprisingly, was an amazing storyteller, and within an hour had the entire crew listening in- even if most of the stories had included them, too. And then….

 

“Will! I have a great idea!” Bill announced once another story had concluded, a devious grin crawling over his face.

 

“Aye? Do tell.” She crossed her legs, leaning back.  

 

“Why don’t we let _Pine Tree_ tell a story? It _is_ his birthday, after all, and I’m _sure_ he’s got a great story in his pretty little head somewhere.” His eye shimmered as he offered his idea to his twin, the crew liked the idea. Will’s entire face brightened as she turned to me, and suddenly they were all demanding a story- like children who were trying to extend their bedtime. I almost refused, but Bill gave me that puppy eye and I couldn’t resist. So, sipping the chocolate drink one more time and placing a hand on Bill’s knee, I started my story.

 

And a risky one, at that- this was the story of how my life was changed in a blink of an eye, and how all I could think was  _"God, it all happened so quickly..."_


	7. And Then I Woke Up At Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper tells a funny story to the crew, then it's not funny anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may notice that some lines are from a skit done by John Mulaney.

The crew was sitting around me as I got ready to tell my story in the galley, my twentieth birthday party taking a momentary break. A few were looking slightly disinterested, wanting a drink or to continue with the festivities, but they sat and listened. Bill was across from me, Will next to him. My hands were sweating at all the attention I received, but I was glad that my voice didn’t shake as I told my tale.  

 

“Okay, so this story happened when I was sixteen. Mabel and I felt like… King and Queen of the world sometimes, we thought we were unstoppable. We were little fucks is what we were, still are. The entire neighborhood knew the Pines name- not just because of the old company, but because Mabel and I caused all kinds of drama.”

 

“The old company?” Will asked, pouring out more chocolate for me. Hitching a brow in surprise,  leaned back in my chair.

 

“Yeah,” I replied. “It was my Abuelo Shermie’s business, Pines’ and Company. He enlisted a two-hundred and fifty merchant ships- enough for a small fleet- to travel all over the world, trading and selling goods- bringing spices and fruits from as close as Cuba to as far as teas and silks from China and carpets and clothing from Egypt. Then he’d sell the stuff across Europe, as far as the new Colony. Almost all the money that man-made went to Abuela's family on Isla Contadora, one of the Pearl Islands, and when he was killed that’s where the rest of it went; the company went with him.”

 

“Oh….” Will sunk in her chair, knowing well what happened with my grandfather.

 _‘I have no regrets about what I did, Pine Tree,’_ Bill told me- with his head down and his hands on his lap.

 

_‘Didn’t expect you to, Bill.’_

 

“Anyway…. All that’s a story for another time.”  I sighed, leaning back in my chair.  “This story, though… I think you’ll all like it. Where was I?”

 

“You and Mabel were known as troublemakers,” Bill reminded me.

“Right! Mabel and I were… Really ballsy. We protected each other, too. Always. Almost everything we did, we did for each other. We were joined at the hip! Inseparable, we even got sick together. So if someone was saying something we didn’t like, well… we defended them. If they were there or not. Which brings me to Gideon…

 

“Gideon Gleeful, three years younger then we are, so at the time he was 13. He had this show, this act in town, a- a circus act almost. His place was called the _‘_ Tent of Telepathy _’_ , and he would do these tricks- magic tricks and such. Across the town from us, like, directly opposite, he rivaled my Grunkle’s shop and it was like the town was split. Half of them loved The Tent of Telepathy because of “cute widdle Gideon” and the other half loved the Mystery Shack because we’d been there longer and they knew of us well _._ But I’m getting off topic.

 

“Gideon was absolutely in love with Mabel, head over heels. Mabel, however, didn’t feel the same, and he knew that too- just wasn’t willing to give up on it. Almost every day, he tried to court her. Every time she said no, and every time he’d get pissed as fuck.

 

“Now, there was a night where Mabel and I decided to go out of town for the night, just relax a bit. She went off with some of her friends who had just gotten back from the sea, and I decided to go stag- went off to a tavern for a few beers, because I never minded drinking alone, and I never caused trouble and always paid, so I was always served. And, I was sixteen, so they let it slide (this is also, by the way, the story of how I found out I was a blackout drunk after seven beers.)  What I didn’t know at the time was that Bud Gleeful, Gideon’s father owned the place. How would I? Apparently, he left his wife, a half-crazed bar wench run it- never said who she was, and no one ever saw them together. And, well, since his father owned it, and his mother ran it, Gideon waltzed in around my fifth or sixth beer, sat right next to me- didn’t even notice it was me. His mother served him a glass of ale, halfway through it, he’s drunk, like a lightweight he is- that no-necked motherfucker. Wasn’t even a strong brew.”  I take another sip of my chocolate as the crew chuckles.

 

“Anyway, once he’s drunk, a few of his friends come over. Former prisoners! Pirates, too, I think one of them he called “Ghost Eyes”. They worshiped the fucker, it was… unnerving. Annoying, too, because they always did his dirty work for him. They sat him up on the bar while I kept my head down, asking about his day, what was wrong, who did they have to beat up, was there anything you wanted us to do, Gideon? He started to tell them about how Mabel had rejected him again that day, _lamenting_ about it. Then he got angry, calling her a stupid bitch, saying shit like how he _deserved her,_ how she was _his,_ talking like he knew _shit._

 

“I slammed my drink down, started screaming at him. Completely lost it at him. His lackeys started to get up, but Gideon pushed them back, deciding to face me himself. ‘What did ya say ta me, boy?’ in his fucking _drawl,_ even though I was older than him- glaring me down from his stool, and I stand up, drunk, too, but he couldn’t even tell-  and I’m so mad I’m almost seeing red, I mean, I’m furious. I tell him, fucking seething, ‘You don’t get to talk about my sister that way, you fucking _plum,_ can’t you see that she doesn’t like you? She despises you, you aren’t even a man worth loving! Hardly a man, either, you god damned _child_ _!_ ’

 

“That’s when Gideon gets really pissed, but I just fucking stand there because I know he’s gonna start shit and _by God_ have I wanted a good reason to break something over his head. He gets off of his stool and he can’t even stand upright, he’s so drunk, and I’m seeing double, but he didn’t know that. He throws the first punch, his fist connects to my face quickly, but it was sloppy- if there is any good thing about me when I’m drunk, it’s that I get _ballsy._ and I don’t even flinch, I just decked the fucker. He almost blacked out, you could see it. He needed Ghost Eyes to hold him up, he was bleeding from the mouth, the entire side of his face was starting to bruise. Then, unsurprisingly, he sticks his _entire posse_ on me, and well… I wasn’t drunk enough to think I could take them all.

 

“I high-tailed it outta there, you’d never seen a drunk guy run faster- seven, hundred-forty kilo ex-convicts right on your heels? Hell no. I sprinted out of there, pushed my way through people, thought _‘I’ll never make it, I’ll never make it on foot fuckfuckfuck!’_ And I see a horse tied to a post and I untie it and hop on and I think _‘I’ve never ridden a horse before!’_

 

“And then I woke up at home.”

 

I took a pause. Bill was looking at me like he was debating whether or not I was lying, but I guess he decided I was telling the truth because he smirked and started to chuckle, running his hand along my thigh.

 

“You’re an idiot,” he muttered, grinning.

 

“I know. Blacking out while on a horse isn’t the best thing, but shit happens. Don’t know how I got home….. I woke up the next morning, went downstairs, saw a few members of the Watch waiting for me. They asked about the new horse in front of the Shack, and then if I was at the Winter’s Hour pub last night, and if I knew anything about Gideon’s crew. Apparently, quite a few of them had broken ribs and such from- surprise, surprise- a horse going wild on them. They were in the hospital. I laughed nervously, denied everything- you know, like a _liar_ \- and then sprinted out, jumping through a window. They followed me for a little while before I turned a corner and lost them. Puked into a bush, too.

 

“But then guess who I found waiting for me around that corner…. Gideon Gleeful. Waiting with the remainder of his henchmen, and they were pissed. They ended up chasing me to the docks, because hangover or no, I’d be damned if I didn’t outrun those fuckers. Got cornered towards the end, but I pushed one of them into the water, broke another’s wrist, started throwin’ punches and dodgin’ ‘em like no man’s business.

 

“Then I guess Mabel’s Sixth Twin Sense started acting up because within minutes of my hungover throwdown she was there with Grunkle Stan, and we had them down and out in minutes- once Grunkle Stan had decided that it was, in fact, okay to hit a child in certain cases, he punted that little _rat_ into the harbor. Dropped into that water squealing like a pig, it was almost funny. Then the mistake was made.

 

“In the midst of taking out the rest of the goons, someone had called the Watch in again, but we hadn't noticed. Stan ended up elbowing one in the face, and then we had to fight the authorities, too. We wanted to finish what we started with Gideon and his gang, and they weren’t going to stop us. Surprisingly not the first time we had done that. We knocked a few of them out, threw one of them into the harbor… Scared them off, really. They were never all to.... authoritative, to begin with. Grunkle Stan paid the rest of them “hush money” and they didn’t bring it up to us again. That night, we celebrated like royalty.

 

“Gideon didn’t bother us again for a year- didn’t bother _anyone_ for a year, probably because his buddies couldn’t get around much. See, without his men behind him, he was nothing. Too scared to leave his house much, because he knew there were a lot of people who would want to… Return the favor, so to speak. Half of the town loved the Pines family, and the other half hated us. Made business tricky for a while, but they got over it soon enough. It was completely worth it, though.”

 

The galley was silent for a moment before Bill broke out in giggles, and the rest of the crew joined him in mirthful laughter. The sound reverberated throughout the ship, and I couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Dipper Pines, I would have never taken you for a trouble maker!” Bill howled, smiling widely. “Not before now, at least.”

 

“Yeah well… when I was with my sister, I could do anything. I’m sure that’s something you could understand, Bill.” The one-eyed man looked to his sister, who had taken up the piano again, and his smile changed to a fonder one.

 

“Yeah….”

 

“Captain?” he hummed, looking back at me, “Am I ever going to see my sister again?”

 

“Aye, if we meet her in battle across the seas.”  He answered without hesitation, but after a moment he frowned at his own words. I pulled my jar of glowing green light closer to me and got up, tired and no longer in any mood to do anything.

 

“I’m going to bed, Captain. Are you joining me?” He seemed to have drifted away in his thoughts again, but he gave me a small nod and got up slowly, and we departed from the galley without a second glance from the crew. Bill didn’t seem in any mood too much either, so we changed in silence, turned out the lights, and went to bed.

 

“Happy birthday, Pine Tree.”

 

I closed my eyes, hoping for once in a long while that when I opened them again I would wake up at home, Mabel across the room from me.


	8. 8. All Hallow's Eve part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry part one

It had been two months since that night, and we had docked in Cuba a week ago. Tonight was Hallow's Eve, where the veil between Here and There was almost completely gone. For the crew of  _ The Mindscape,  _ this meant that their “torturers”  (as Bill had called them) would come back for most of the crew, to try to bring them back to the hell they came from. Bill said only the more powerful could truly come through from There. When I had asked what ‘There’ was, he simply replied “Another dimension,” with a dark look, and left me to that.  

 

All the crew, save for Bill, was on edge. I remember him telling me something about ghosts having ghosts, about a Mexican celebration and a pagan one, and how the crew made masks so that the ghosts and demons couldn’t recognise them (demons straight from hell oftentimes need a good few years before they can get their bearings, so on days like All Hallow’s Eve they get really confused by people wearing masks). 

 

“I’m not sure what they’d do to you, Pinetree, but I want you to go make a mask with the others and stay here tonight, alright? These spirits are dangerous. I want you safe. That mask stays on from dusk to dawn, understand?” 

 

No jokes made, no snide remarks. Today was a serious day. 

 

Pyronica helped me, actually, in making my mask. We sat in the crew's’ cabin, making them with paper mache and paint we picked up from the last port. Some carved them from wood, some used magic to crudely bend scrap metal. 

 

“We make these masks so they can’t recognize us, right? But we make ‘em scary so they don’t tryna mess with us,” She smiled wide. “Bill’s the only one who doesn’t. He enjoys talking to the bastards who come to the ship once the sun sets… THe next morning he comes back bloody….  Some people think that those souls that come through are souls waiting from Purgatory, some think that tomorrow and the day after dead family members come to us to see us again. Really, though, it’s when demons take advantage of terrorizing us.” 

 

“What’s the difference between you and them, if I can ask?” I asked, lowering my voice, not wanting to offend or anger her. 

 

“Simple: They only care ‘bout what’s there, but we enjoy the pleasures of what’s here. A lot of demons do like you wouldn’t believe, but even more of them are There. They want to hurt us and bring us back down there.”

 

“And Bill isn’t bothered?” 

 

“Nope. He gets them to leave, one way or another. He protects us, he braves them for us, year after year. Until we’re able to take them on our own.”  Her words stunned me. Bill fought them all on his own. The most feared crew of the seas has demons that scare  _ them,  _ and he fights them head-on. He truly lived up to his reputation. 

 

Now as I looked down at my mask, a green thing that with black eyes and a red snarl-  childishly fearsome- I wasn’t sure I wanted it anymore. Standing, thanking Pyronica, I left the cabin and stared at the mask; the subject of the mutterings of the crew had turned to me. 

 

Walking to Bill’s quarters was short ways away, so I hadn’t even noticed when I had walked inside. My feet took over my mind and they lead me to his desk. 

 

“Bill?” I finally looked up, placing the faux face at the edge of the mahogany desk. He didn’t look up from his work when he responded with a grunt. “Bill, I’m going to brave the thinning veil with you tonight. I’ll help you keep the crew and the ship safe. I want to see these things for myself, I want to be brave with you.” 

 

His head shot up, eyes wide. He almost sounded manic. “No. You’re to stay here, do you understand? I don’t know what’s out there for you. You cannot follow me, do you understand?” 

 

“Bill, please. I want to be brave with you. You do this for your crew, your  _ family,  _ the least I could do was do with you. For everything you’ve done for me.” I walked around the desk, placing a hand on his, kneeling down. 

 

“After all I’ve  _ done-  _ ?” the Captain sounded incredulous, “I will not have this on my conscious. No. I’ve never done anything good for you, ever. For the love of the stars and all the forces of evil, I’ve done nothing good for you.” He stood, pulling me up as well. 

 

“Bill-,”

 

“I said  _ no,  _ Dipper!” his voice was sharp, and he looked angry. “That was an order from your Captain, do you understand? You are to stay here tonight. You will wear that mask from dusk 'til dawn- you will sleep in it if you must- and you will stay in this room even if I lock you in, am I clear?” 

 

“Bill,  _ please,  _ I just-” He cut me off with a sharp finger to the air.

 

“Am. I. Clear?” There was no room for discussion. I nodded, and he grabbed his sword and pistol belt, waited to for me to put my mask on, stormed out of the room and slammed the door. I heard that soft  _ click  _ and know I was apparently in for the night.  

I threw the mask off as soon as I could, pacing the room. The wide window of his cabin showed nightfall soon, and I was torn inside. Do I listen to him and stay? Or do I go out and help him? 

 

_ ‘Do I dare?’  _

 

That thought stayed with me for a long time.  

  
  


Hours passed

 

Nothing.

 

Darkness. 

 

It was almost midnight. It was almost midnight when I felt it. 

 

A soft tingling,  a surge of power-

 

_ It felt red. It felt angry.  _

 

Decision time: Do I dare leave this room?

 

I heard something scream not far from the door. I was going. 

 

I grabbed my sword, pulling my hair back in a red lace. Walking into Bill’s closet, I grabbed a lantern fuelled by a human soul (after a lot of asking Bill finally told me that  _ that  _ was how the ship was lit at night. Won’t start a fire. I’ve been trying to change that as it greatly disturbs me.) and I hacked the door open. He could always fix it later. 

 

I wasn’t exactly sure where on the ship that Bill had gone, but I saw neither hair nor tail of any of the other crew. I walked across the ship, a heavy dread in my chest. Something was out there, and it was eluding me. It moved farther as I moved closer, and I grew ever more worried as I continued to hear the ever-distant screaming, starting to run, before I saw her. 

 

A woman in white with chocolate brown hair flowing in the air like water. Her feet hit the ground without sound as she moved across the halls before she turned to me. 

 

I swayed on my feet, the rocking of the ship making me dizzy once again. This was too much. 

 

“Mason,” she said to me, “Do not do this. Turn back. Escape.  Now may be you’re on;y chance to.”  

 

I couldn’t move for a moment, before I really started to run, past her, past everything as I followed the screams to the cells down below. 

 

“My little Dipper,” She followed me, whispering in my ear, “How you have grown. I miss you, my little one- you and your sister. Do not follow that monster, Mason! He will bring your demise.”

 

I looked into a cell that had a glow coming from it. A red glow. I threw open the cell door and was faced with a whirlpool of red, like blood. The Lady in White stood at the door, screeching, and I wanted to sob.

 

And I felt like this whirlpool was a bridge from ‘Here’ to ‘There’. In fact, I was almost certain.

 

I was also certain when I walked through the portal, into something I could almost describe as Hell.  

 

Going through the Whirlpool was like drowning. The magic and void filled my mouth and lungs, and I was spat out into a black endless sky, floating and lost. 

 

At first, I was mesmerized by the lighting and the swirl of colors. Everything moved and changed and shifted- in a way, it was like the ocean itself- But then I saw the monsters and the horrors and the  _ eyes-   _

 

The eyes were everywhere, and they all turned to me once I had gone through the Whirlpool. 

  
  


I had no control, flailing around and as I tried to leave the sight of the eyes. The flood of monsters continued the havoc they were causing, leaving the portal or flying around the almost empty, yet endlessly cluttered void. There was an island amidst the chaos, a lone planet of amber that seemed to glow bright gold at the core. 

 

Huge vines came from the lone amber planet, stretching out and out and  _ out,  _ curling and unfurling and reaching and grabbing….. Grabbing for me, grabbing for  _ me,  _ and I couldn’t move out of the way as the vines wrapped themselves around my body and squeezed me tightly. It dragged me through the void, brought me to the surface and the second I hit it, it opened up beneath me to show a dizzying mess of never-ending, ever-turning staircases with more gnarly roots reaching out to grab me-

 

Where Bill’s symbol, black against the glowing amber, shadowed in the center. 


	9. All Hallow's Eve PArt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fuck

Bill was furious with me. A root reached out to grab me, taking me by the throat as he revealed himself from the amber before he was in my mind again. I couldn’t breathe, I was choking, and I felt so  _ violated  _ by his intrusion on my thoughts but he didn’t care.

 

_ ‘Dipper Pines,’  _ he roared,  _ ‘ What in the name of the stars and all the forces of evil are you doing here?! You’re going back right now! If weren’t bonded by soul I'd have you thrown in the cells for disobeying a direct order!!/ _

 

_ /Bill–/ _

 

_ /No! I told you– I TOLD YOU– Not to follow me, I TOLD YOU–/ _

 

_ /Bill–/  _  I was clawing at the roots, scrunching my eyes closed. I couldn’t look at him. All I could hear was his voice– all else was drowned out. So tight around my neck that I thought the roots would snap it. 

 

_ /Pines, I swear on all the stars, what the shit is it??/  _ A beat passed where I couldn’t say anything at all.

 

_ /You’re choking me!/ _

 

_ /…. Ah, shit./  _ He dropped me onto the amber, and it rose up to catch me and cradle me softly as I coughed and took deep breaths, curled up in a ball, on my side, on the floor. The stardust entered my lungs, tickled, settled, then finally disappeared. 

 

He walked towards me as I heard the havoc around us once more, and I looked up at him from the ground. I was once again reminded how this all started– he was a demon. I was his prisoner. I joined his crew for survival. He wanted to kill my family. For the first time in months, I was truly afraid. 

 

“Bill,” I whispered because I voice could only do so much after he wrangled my neck. “Bill, I can explain. I… I just wanted to help you.”

 

“I gave you direct orders, Pines! If I hadn’t seen you float in through the Portal, you could have been seriously hurt! They could have killed you, PInes! A lot of these creatures are mindless and want nothing more than to just bring Hell on Earth! I’m header to filter out the ones that could hurt my crew, and you’re dragging me away from that!”

 

Oh,  _ fuck him.  _ His anger wasn’t going to stop me from calling him a bastard. 

 

“The only one who  _ seriously hurt  _ me here was  _ you,  _ Cipher.” My voice was still quiet and rough, my breaths coming out in small, shaky, painful huffs. I moved up to my knees, then my feet, to show him the clear-as-day marks he left on me.  _ That  _ stopped him. In fact, something almost like fear crossed  _ his  _ face, marring its beauty for a moment with it. 

 

“Don’t send me back…” My voice was getting a bit stronger, but it still hurt. He sighed, anger dissipating and moving to guilt. 

 

“Why shouldn’t I, Pines? Give me one good reason why I don’t just throw you back so I can do my job.”

 

“Please, Love….”

 

“Don’t ‘please love’ me, give me a reason.”  My eyes welled up with tears as he said this. 

 

“Please….. Please. My mother is on the other side, Bill. My mother, who you killed, is on the other side and she would turn me against you. If I have to stay with her and listen to her suffering…. I  _ would  _ turn against you. I  _ would.  _ And I couldn’t make her disappear, I couldn’t hurt her.  __ Don’t make me face her. Not again.”

 

“You would….. Turn against me?” His anger was rising once again. 

 

“I… I would.”

 

“The only reason you are even alive is that of  _ me, _ the only reason you and your entire family aren’t dead is that of  _ me,  _ and you–  _ you–!!”  _ He threw on onto the other side of the portal so hard that the wind was taken from my lungs and I crashed into the cell door on the other side. 

 

I lost consciousness soon after, seeing the ghost of my mother over me and hearing Bill’s rage. 

 

When I woke up everything ached, and I couldn’t speak.

 

Bill was over me now, my vision so blurry that I couldn’t tell what he was doing; I couldn’t hear him, I couldn’t move. Then, after a few slow seconds–

 

“– you can’t just  _ throw him, _ Bill he’s a  _ human _ – _ ”  _ So it was Will over me. She was holding a ball of light.

 

“I  _ know _ ! I  _ know, Willow _ ! But he would  _ betray me _ – _!”  _ I groaned, stopping whatever conversation they were having. Moving my arm to stop the light from reaching my eyes as everything slowly came to focus.  

And then hell broke loose on me.

 

“I should have you killed for this!!” Bill roars, “HAng you against the front of my ship like a warning!”

 

“What was I supposed to do about my dead mother, Bill? You killed her! And now she haunts me! I don’t even know how I feel about you anymore!!”

 

“You don’t have that right! How am I supposed to trust you? Knowing that with a few words you’d be against me. We're supposed to trust each other! I can’t trust you! Mason, I can’t trust you.” He started to glow blue, Will backing up slowly before leaving. 

 

_ ‘Oh shit,’  _ I thought. He was going to kill me. 

 

“You betrayed me! Just like Ford did!” He started to throw things without really touching them. Bill stood there, hands clenched into fists, tears coming down his face as his magic lifted objects and threw them in all directions. “You Pines are all the same! You’re just like Ford! I should have seen this coming! I should have known!”

 

He didn’t yell, but roar. Everything hit the walls– glass, books, weapons, precious cocoa– and he didn’t seem to notice. Letting out a sob, he shook, ready to crumble, but I didn’t move.  _ ‘After all that he’s done to my family…. Separating us. Killing us. And he expects me to _ –  _ what? Feel pity?’ _

 

_ ‘You still love him, don’t you?’  _ I asked myself.  _ ‘I don’t know,’  _ was all I could answer. Bill got quiet and fell to his knees, blood trickling down his hands from digging his nails into them so hard.  My feet moved without my permission, moving towards him, kneeling down and holding him close. 

 

“Tell me you love me, Dipper… I know you don’t. I know I don’t deserve it. Just tell me you love me. Even if it’s a lie.” Oh fuck. 

 

“I… You said so yourself, Bill.” I was tired now. Everything was a mess. He destroyed my life but… “You are part of my bonded soul. We’re both fucked up, aye, Cap? And… we do what we must to survive, right? We’re pirates. We…. live outside anyone's law, right? And we… Fight for each other. Protect the loyal.” I held him close and moved him up, things still moving around the room on their own accord. 

 

“Dipper…”

 

“I’m not like Ford. We are bonded by the soul, right? Soulmates. Forever and always. Now sit on the bed. Open your hands. We can’t live like this, Bill. We know what the other has done. It’s time to forgive. To apologize and forgive and make amends.” 

  
  


The next morning I woke up and began to clean, cursing every book and shard quietly.  Bill slept soundly until noon, and when he woke the room was in near perfect shape. Food was brought in for us. 

 

While we ate, Bill looked at me with something akin to pride in his eyes. 

 

“You know that took…. Strength, to do what you did. But this is not something that can go unnoticed. That this will have to be taken to the crew, right?” My blank stare apparently told him all he needed to know. “You…. By the  _ stars, _ someone  _ did  _ read the code to you, right?”

 

I sucked my teeth for a short moment, “The what?”

 

“For fuck's sake… No one read you the  _ Mindscape’s  _ Code?” Bill rubbed his temples in agitation. “That explains a fuck ton. How would you know what you were doing if you didn’t know the pirate's code?”

 

“You mean you heathens have a law around here?” It was a nervous quip, one he didn’t take lightly. 

 

“We have a law ‘round here, many pirate ships do. Maybe… This is a good thing? Maybe you’ll be more easily forgiven. Sure, the crew likes you, mostly, but…. They will not let you off the hook so easily. But it might not be so bad if we can convince them to make a lesser punishment as you were never read the Code.”

 

“Sounds great. Let’s do it.” 

 

“Right now?”

 

“Aye. If I’m to be part of this crew, I have to be held accountable, right?”  I stood up, walked towards the door. “I’ll have Will gather everyone?”

 

“Good man…. Let’s get this over with.”

 

I paused before the door, pulling my hair back and showed my birthmark as he came over to join me. “You know we still have to talk about last night?”

 

“Let’s get this over with first.” 

 

“Aye, Cap.” 


	10. 10. The Trial and Punishment of Mason Pines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An explanation of soulmates, repressed anger, and pain. Bill loves his crew.

_ The Thirteen Codes of  _ The Mindscape _ : _

 

_ One: In splitting loot: Captain & Quartermaster earn 2 shares. Bosun, Cooper, Carpenter,  Doctor, Surgeon, Navigation, Master Gunner & Cook earn 1 ½ shares. Musicians, Gunners, Mates & Sailors earn 1 share. Cabin boys and Swabbies get ½ shares. Anyone who becomes cripple, mentally or physically, are to be paid 800 pieces of eight from the common stock, and lesser injuries paid accordingly.  _

 

_ Two: Children of or under the age of 15 are forbidden on the ship unless explicit permission is given beforehand by the Captain and the Captain alone.  _

 

_ Three: Penalty for desertion during combat is death or marooning. _

 

_ Four: All fighting between crew members is to be done on shore. _

 

_ Five: Every crew member has an equal vote on all matters concerning any or all crewmembers.  _

 

_ Six: Every man and woman aboard is to be treated equally and is entitled to the same amount of provisions unless the right is revoked for punishment. _

 

_ Seven: Musicians are to pick one off day of which they please, by right, and any other day, by favor only.  They should be prepared to play at any time. _

 

_ Eight: Unless otherwise stated, lights are to be out by nine. Any after-dark activities are to be done quietly, on deck, without lights unless given permission. All crew members have their right to a peaceful sleep. _

 

_ Nine: Anyone who calls for Parlay cannot be harmed until they reach the Captain and speak their piece. Furthermore, killing a surrendered enemy is not allowed & will be punished with a flogging of at least 50 lashes, bareback, unless otherwise stated by the crew.  _

 

_ Ten: If a crewmember dies in battle, they are to be given a proper Pirates funeral that night if the land is not available. For the next day, No One is to speak unless absolutely necessary, and their dying wishes are to be carried out. On land, their jewelry is to be used to cover expenses of a burial. _

 

_ Eleven:  Anyone who disrespects the captain’s Direct orders will have severe penalties enforced accordingly. The lowest possible punishment is a flogging of five lashes.  _

 

_ Twelve: Each Pirate is responsible for the upkeep of their weapons. Failure of upkeep of said weapons will be used to beat the owner with.  _

 

_ Thirteen: If the crew decides that the Captain ever becomes too cruel in any way for their tastes, they can overthrow him, if all other persuasions to be less so fails. _

* * *

 

 

These were the codes read out to me as I stood on trial, on deck, in front of the crew. Everyone was on edge, both because it wasn’t apparently often that the pirate council was brought together, and because a lot of the crew liked me. 

 

We stood at the bow of the ship, our backs to the sun as we faced the crew. Bill, Will, and I. I was in loose metal cuffs and Will kept a firm hand on my shoulder. My lover held open yellowed parchment with those thirteen codes, rolling it back up. 

 

“It has come to my attention two things,” Bill started, “Firstly, that Dipper has not been read these codes before now, and has been following blindly to the will of the crew for the past few months. I realize it should have been my responsibility to do so, but I was caught up in the second matter. A …. Deity has informed me that Dipper is my soulmate. My soul and his are bonded together. From now until the end of time.

 

“That said… I know that last night was an important one and though nothing happened to harm this crew because of Dipper’s actions many of you will still deem them unacceptable. That is to be expected. I simply ask you take this into account before coming to a decision. Any sentence you have, I will carry out. You have, of course, an hour to decide. Does the accused have anything to say?”

 

“Uh,” I fidgeted, looking around. “I did what I did for… Well, for the Captain, and for myself. It was something I had to do and meant all of you no harm.” 

 

We were, of course, taken into separate rooms, Bill to his and me to the cells below deck. Bill looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't. I had wanted to protest this, but I really couldn't. Neither of us spoke to each other, and I sat in the dank cells I had previously cleaned, muttering to myself. I never did like being alone.

* * *

 

 

An hour later, Pyronica came down, keys jingling softly as she held the ring by her finger. She let me out, helped me up, a frown on her lips and glisten in her eye.

 

“What’s the verdict, Pyronica? What’s going on,” Silence from her, nothing but silence. “Pyronica? What’s going on? Pyronica? Please tell me what’s going on.”

 

She pushed me upstairs, to the main deck. Bill was there, too, and his dark face looked as pale as it could get. Tad gathered everyone’s attention, stopping the murmurs. For a moment all I could hear was my own heartbeat, and then the moment was gone. 

 

“We, as a crew, have arrived at a verdict. Dipper, for his crimes in violating the codes of the crew, shall receive a flogging of 40 lashes. As per the Codes, it is to be done bareback. As per request, our Captain Cipher will be the one distributing the flogging. Pyronica, please prepare Dipper for his flogging.” 

 

I would be lying if I had said I wasn’t at least a little scared. I had only ever seen one flogging and never been whipped myself. I wasn’t sure if 40 lashes was a lot or not. As Pyronica uncuffed me so I could take my shirt off, I looked over at Bill. Half his face was covered with his hat. Will had handed him a leather whip, but I couldn’t see his face. I was forced to my knees, hands brought out to stretch my arms as far as they would go on either side. Rope burned my wrists as they were tied there. I wasn’t going to get away from this. 

 

_ “I’ll be alright, Bill,”  _ I told him silently, eyes to the ground.  _ “Just get it done.” _

 

_ “I will…. I just don’t want you to hate me.”  _ He moved toward me, lips in a tight line. 

 

_ “Since I have first seen you, I have felt tied to you in ways I could never understand. I know now this is my love for you. I know not what you could possibly do to sever this bond, for we are soulmates, as you have said, but I doubt this is one of them. Please,”  _ I said to him, looking up at him for a brief moment,  _ “Just get it over with, so we may wash our hands of this, and get some sleep.”  _

 

He nodded once.

 

The whip unraveled and the tip hit the floor with a quiet thud. 

 

“Keep count, Pines,” Bill said to me. One small ‘Yes, Captain’ and it had started.

* * *

 

 

A half hour felt like a century, but then it was over and I had been released. I bled from the lacerations on my back, and it was like my entire back was on fire. I was later told that what wasn’t bruised, was cut and bleeding. 

 

My arms couldn’t hold me up once the rope was unknotted; my forehead hit the deck with a hard thump as I wept, unashamed and in more pain then I had ever been in. Bill dropped the whip, the crew dispersed, and Will ran to get something. For a second, my eyes had told my mind that just for a moment, before they were too filled with tears, that they could see the end of a smile on Bill’s face. I fell unconscious soon after Bill picked up my head, muttering sweet nothings to me.

 

 When I had awoken, I was on my stomach. Bill was sitting at his desk, eyes closed as his head rested on his hands in front of him, deep in thought. Will was sitting on the floor, working hard at making a paste. Knowing I couldn’t get up, I let out something akin to a soft mewl.

 

Bill was up and at my side in seconds. He blocked the sunlight from the window, and his beautiful champagne eye glistened with worry. He kissed my head softly, tended to my wounds, and gave me water. 

 

If only I could tell what he was feeling, because besides the sweet nothings he whispered into my ear, he kept me in the dark.

* * *

 

 

Dipper was pulled along to go below decks, and I was forced to watch him go. I shuffled off to my own room, worry filling my entire being. I had to lock the door behind me. 

 

Why had I agreed to dish out Dipper’s punishment? I couldn’t hurt him, but now… 

 

I had to do right by my crew; if punishing Pine Tree myself was what it took to prove to the crew that I still stood by them, then so be it. They were my crew, my family. Pine Tree being new meat didn’t make them any less.

 

But, stars and galaxies alike, did I not want to punish my Pines. 

 

I had only just sat at my desk when Will came in, despite the locked door. She looked sad, sitting in the chair in front of the desk, and motioned for a drink. 

 

“How’s it looking out there?” My voice was almost frantic as I pulled out a bottle of black rum, and two glasses. She poured herself a half-glass, and me a full one. Not a good sign. Will sighed.

 

“Dipper may be looking at a flogging here. They feel like you’re starting to put him above them. But, Bill….” 

 

“What is it, Will?”

 

“They’re talking about the ‘soulmates’ stunt. They think… Well, they don’t know what to think. Dipper is a… Human man. A– and these aren’t my words here– a whore or bitch or plaything is one thing. A soulmate– something you’ve never even talked about before– is something else entirely.”

 

“Pine Tree was never a  _ whore _ –”

 

“I know, brother, but that’s just what they’re saying. They accepted him nonetheless just... You wanted him as bait, a bargaining chip for when you found Ford, and now… You love him. You’re bonded to his soul. How do you even know you are?”

 

“It came to me in a dream.”

* * *

 

 

_ I was standing in a town I’ve only seen in Will’s visions. The burning town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. I saw a version of me that was above it all, in my demon form, laughing horribly and wrecking havoc with my crew members. The difference between this scene and Willow’s visions was a simple one _ –  _ Willow was nowhere to be found.  _

 

_ I walked around, watching the vision unfold and unable to do anything about it. I was a ghost in a town far off in the future. It looked like something I shouldn’t have wanted but… I wanted it. I looked and I wanted this. I wanted this burning future, and I didn’t know why.  _

 

_ After a bit of wandering, I found something. I found my Pine Tree, some ten years younger then he was today, maybe? How could this be?  _

 

_ He was yelling, screaming and demanding resistance. He was trying to take it all down.  He was against me. He was alive somehow, and he was against me. How could he be against me? The world looked great! The sky was so colorful _ ,  _ the fire bright, and the screams were clearly full of joy. And my little star was leading a rebellion against me.  _

 

_ I was starting to grow angry at him. Why would he do this? I looked around and all I could see, for the first time, was hard work towards a better world. Why was Dipper against this? _

 

_ “Because, Death and Destruction reign here, William Cipher.”  _

 

_ My eyes were immediately drawn up and up and up until I saw a great being before me: me. That is, my form enraged- a being of immense power, myself but disfigured. The figure that looked like me seemed to be the only thing that could see me, floating, taller than the main mast on  _ The Mindscape  _ and not even at full height. He was taken apart in sections, head and torso and waist. He had four arms and his torso pieces were spinning slowly; it was not unlike the demon I was looking at in the vision.  _

 

_ I looked up at the living effigy of my power, surrounded by fire and brimstone.  _

 

_ “Who are you,” I called up to it, “And why do you have my face?”  _

 

_ “I am the god you prayed to save you and yours not so long ago. I am the god of you, and your kind, on your earth.”  _

 

_ No. “You’re Xolotl. You’re the- the god of twins and monsters. I thought you were just part of a spell. I’ve never seen other gods. Why are you here? Why are you showing me this?  _ Why  _ do you have my face?”  _

 

_ “You ask many questions, William. I took a form you would trust most- Yourself. I show you these scenes because this is your future. No matter how you continue, this is your fate, chosen by you a long time ago. I give you now two options.”  Xolotl raised two of his hands, my hands, as if in an offering. “Is this the future you want?” _

 

_ I thought for a moment, looking around, knowing that if I had to think about it, I already knew it.  _

 

_ “No,” I answered, “Not like this. Not… without Willow.” I knew that was a lie if just a small one. _

 

_ “The choice has been made. I will give you one thing that will help you in the future. I will give you… A soulmate. Your soul will be, from now until the end of days, bonded to another. To find them and keep them will be up to you.They will come to you in many ways, in many forms, in many lifetimes.”  _

 

_ “And this will change the future?” My fists clenched, looking up, but not feeling small. _

 

_ “No,” Xolotl said, “It will simply give you… Hope.” _

* * *

 

  
  


“I knew then that I had to find my soulmate, and I had to protect them. I thought it was you, at first. You’re my only family left, Will, and I’d do anything to protect you– but then Dipper fell asleep with me one night and held me close and I knew he was it because I knew I’d never let him leave my side. I knew I needed him by me more than anything. I  _ need  _ him.”

 

“And now you’ll need to punish him.”  Will sat in the chair on the other side of the desk, crossing her legs and putting on a ‘deep thought’ look– one that mirrored my own. “You’ll need to hurt him now.” 

 

“I know, but I have to prove to my crew that I still care for them. They are still important to me, so I have to take action.” 

 

“And you’re sure this will get them back on your side?”

 

“What, are they thinking of mutiny?”

 

“No, but…”

 

“I know this is what I have to do.” A knock came to my door, and with a sight, I let them in. It was Pyronica. She told me a decision was made, beckoning my twin and me out, and I stood there, under the heat of the afternoon sun, as my soulmate took the news of his punishment in. I had put my Captain’s hat on my face, covering my eyes– well, eye. 

 

I kept a straight face as he was tied down.

 

_ ‘I’ll be alright Bill. Just get it done,’  _ He told me, closing his eyes tight in preparation.

 

_ ‘I will, I just don’t want you to hate me.’ _

 

_ ‘Since I have first seen you, I have felt tied to you in ways I could never understand. I know now this is my love for you. I know not what you could possibly do to sever this bond, for we are soulmates, as you have said, but I doubt this is one of them. Please,’  _ he said to me, flitting his beautiful eyes up for a moment,  _ ‘Just get it over with, so we may wash our hands of this, and get some sleep.’ _

 

I told him to keep count, lifted my hand, and brought it down hard. The sound of the leather cracking against his skin made Will flinch, but I kept a straight face.

 

“One…” He sounded like he was quivering, and then I just pretended it wasn’t him anymore. I brought the whip down again.

 

“Two…” I didn’t want to hear his small voice, but I had to treat him like I would any else.

 

“Three…” I couldn't keep like this, I couldn’t hear him, I couldn’t see him. I didn’t want to.

 

“Four… Five… Six…” His voice trembled, trying not to cry out, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Will, looking at me, but all my focus was on my Pine Tree, to the point where suddenly… It just wasn’t him anymore.

 

“Eight… Nine…” It was Ford in front of me, on his knees, head down, in all his young glory. It was Ford on the verge of tears, back bruised, shaking and flinching. I felt joy creep into my mind, and I hit him again, and again, and again, hitting Ford, a smile splitting my face in the same way as the leather split him.

 

And I kept hitting him until I saw the blood trickle from his back, and he cried.

 

“Thirty-five…” He sniffled, but not once did he lift his face, and when I hit him again he wailed.

 

“Thirty-six!” I  reveled in Ford’s pain,   smiling like a  demon, knowing that I had finally gotten my revenge, knowing that he felt just a fraction of as much pain as he had put me in, feeling that nothing could stop me anymore.  Knowing that nothing, nothing in this world ever be able to hurt me again,  once he knew who was really in charge. 

 

“Thirty-seven…. Thirty-eight… Thirty-nine…” He was barely holding on, blood, tears, and sweat all hitting the deck. I hit him, one last time, harder then I had ever before.

 

“Forty!” He cried out, head was thrown back, and I saw his face again, and he was Dipper. My smile dropped. I was brought back to reality, and I dropped my whip. Dipper cried openly, head hitting the floor, and I dropped to my knees, holding his head in my hands, whispering sweet little things until he passed out. I cursed to myself, picked him up, and brought him back to my room, putting him in bandages. 

 

It was time to let the boy sleep, and remind myself that he wasn’t Ford. That he was so much better, and that it would be a long time before I could forgive myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is... late.

**Author's Note:**

> GOD HELP ME


End file.
